Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover is talking to a number of Chinese companies about a possible manufacturing joint venture, said CEO Ralf Speth.
“We had a long list of companies, now its shorter,” he said.
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He admitted JLR was late into China, only launching its own sales and distribution company in the middle of last year. Sales first started in 2003 through a number of local distributors.
The company now had a “once in a century” opportunity to establish itself globally, and Speth was determined to seize it.
Bruce Robertson, head of sales and service for JLR China, said the company had gone from having 37 dealers in the middle of 2010 to 60 by the end of 2010 and would have 100 by the end of this year.
Land Rover sales grew 103% year on year to 26,000 in 2010 and will reach 40,000 this year; Jaguar sales increased some 90% to 2,700 units and will hit 5,500 this year. If these predictions prove right, China will be the second largest global market for Land Rover and the third for Jaguar behind the UK and USA.
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By GlobalDataRobertson said current Jaguar specification “isn’t right for China” where customers want big cars with smaller engines. JLR has also moved an engineering team to Shanghai and established a government liaison office in Beijing.
A new three-litre V6 engine for the XJ was unveiled at the show as part of Jaguar’s push to get the right spec cars into the market.
Land Rover also launched the limited edition Autobiography Ultimate Edition whiuch costs CNY3m, the equivalent of GBP300,000. The vehicle is already on sale in the UK at GBP125,000.
“We had planned just 100,” said global brand director John Edwards, but demand has been healthier enough, especially from markets like Russia and the Middle East, to increase that to 500. The model features iPads built into the rear headrests and seats four rather five.
