Land Rover As We Know It Is Going Away - Sort Of
Rumors of Jaguar’s demise have floated for decades, really, but we’re now learning it’s the British automaker’s sister company that will be seeing the most dramatic changes. Jaguar Land Rover recently announced that it would rebrand itself as JLR and that Land Rover as we know it is going away.
The brand’s iconic luxury off-roaders aren’t going away, just the Land Rover name. In its place, the automaker will offer four individual brands: Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar. Though it’s a bummer to lose the Land Rover name, many people already treat the Range Rover and other models like standalone brands, so things likely won’t change much.
At the same time, Jaguar’s moving further upmarket with an ultra-expensive EV, and the brand’s retail footprint in the U.S. is shrinking to make room for the transition. The automaker has asked some dealers to close Jaguar stores and has enticed them to move with extra allocations of popular Land Rover models.
JLR is also moving toward a direct-to-buyer strategy in other countries, known as an agency model. The company will convert its sales in the U.K. to the model by 2025 and has started the process in South Africa. We don’t know how many dealers will ultimately give up Jag in the U.S., but it will be much more difficult for the brand to get around dealer franchise laws to sell direct.
[Image: JLR]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Same dealer. Even though they can't sell new Jags they can service them for another 5-6 years, and they will be around because they still have the Land Rover Franchise. Our 2012 XF was a great car but became very expensive to service in the last few years, which is the only reason we replaced it. New one has 5 year warranty.
Which one is British equivalent of Hummer? I mean has anything to do with military application. Which one British military uses or used in the past?
The first generation XF was based on the S-Type, which was based on a Ford platform, but with all new gorgeous styling. The second generation continued the styling, but on a new aluminum platform, which was upgraded in 2021 with a new interior and some exterior changes. The first and second generation had 380 hp V8 engines, or the supercharged 340 hp V6. The current and no doubt last model dropped the previous engines and has a 296 HP 2.0L engine, which is their new Ingenium engine, and seems pretty strong.
As far as upcoming models, they are now touting a coming electric 4 door GT car starting at about $125,000.00. Previous Jag sedans were in the $55,000 - $60,000.00 range, with the F Types in the $100,000.00 range.
Jaguar is already a brand of its own. It DOES make sense to spin off Range Rover into being its own brand, given its well-established position as being more luxurious and upscale than the run-of-the-mill Land Rover models.
However, getting rid of Land Rover and all of the brand recognition and the (surprising to me) good will the name conjurs in the imagination of so many buyers and would-be buyers is dumb and a mistake. Defender and Discovery just don't cut it on their own and they would be better off continuing being marketed as models of the Land Rover brand.