JLR to rev up on Indian roads, launch 10 models in FY18

JLR wants to put more of its cars on Indian roads. For this, it is trying to close the price gap with competing brands such as Mercedes and BMW, and offer more experiential drives to attract buyers.

The iconic brand, part of the Tata Group, has typically maintained a premium positioning in the luxury car segment, with its models priced significantly higher than competition in each segment. This has so far limited the company’s sales in India.

Rohit Suri, MD and President at Jaguar Land Rover India, told BusinessLine that the volumes are now increasing in India, and that will help the company reduce prices and minimise the pricing gap it has so far maintained with its competitors.

“Because of the popularity that we’ve received, we’ve tweaked the prices a bit for some of our high demand models such as Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Sport and Discovery Sport. Pricing was not at its ideal positioning earlier, and we’ve changed that based on customer feedback and demand. We’ll maintain some level of premium-ness but it is the gap (against rival brands) that will reduce,” Suri said.

The company plans to introduce new models this financial year to fill gaps in its portfolio, with several refreshes.

“We are looking at 10 new launches this year. The first one will be the Jaguar XE Diesel (entry level sedan). We currently have only the petrol variant. Then we’ll come out with the brand new Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Velar,” Suri said.

As the luxury car brand gets set for an aggressive start to FY18, it plans to use performance tours to build a strong customer connect in India.

The first such event for the new fiscal was held at an airstrip in Aamby Valley township.

The Tata-owned British car company had been behind the curve when it came to letting potential buyers experience the full performance capabilities of its cars — which includes testing cornering abilities at high speeds, stability testing when you’re required to abruptly brake or simply testing the top speed of its top models.

But from this year, performance tours will be a big tool in JLR’s sales strategy in India.

“When a customer goes to a showroom and takes a 10-minute test drive, he only gets to understand the construct of the car and the feel of it. Jaguar is a lot about performance and seduction. Performance is something that cannot be experienced in a short drive,” Suri explained. JLR has been doing Land Rover experience events fairly often for the last few years, with nearly one event a month taking place last year. However, for Jaguar, 2016 was the first time that the brand tried out such events.

Encouraged by the response, from this year onwards, JLR plans to have 30 such events for both Jaguar and Land Rover.

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