Jaguar Blog

Two large British car manufacturers, the Jaguar Land Rover, and the Chery, have just sealed the deal. They’re set to collaborate and produce competitive cars in the country where every car manufacturer seems to have its eyes set on: China. The only thing that’s holding them back is the fact that their $2.78B deal is still subject for the approval of the Chinese government. British car manufacturers are certainly looking to expand beyond Europe because the car sales there are dropping. China, on the other hand, is showing great potential.

China seems to be immune to the economic turmoil which Europe is currently feeling. SUVs and luxury cars are still in demand in the country. This joint venture is very important for the Jaguar Land Rover whose sales have been affected by the dropping demand in Europe.

However, the deal has been stopped short because of the regulations in eastern China. Jaguar Land Rover is currently being represented by Tata Motors, a subsidiary. Chery is representing itself. No news about the progress of the request has been heard to this date but the two giant car manufacturers are looking forward to positive results.

It must be noted that getting the approval of the Chinese government can take a really long time. Fuji Heavy Industries tried to do this last year, and they still haven’t gotten through today. It is still very unclear whether or not their proposal to manufacture cars in the country has been approved.

Despite of this, JLR and Chery remain optimistic. They said that they will focus on research and development while they are waiting for the results. In the meantime, they know that JLR and Chery vehicles are wanted in China, so even if they have to wait for a long time to be approved, they know their vehicles will sell well.

Jaguar Land Rover is all smiles as they post a sky high jump in sales in China for 2011. JLR improved its sales figure by as much as 61% which translates to 42,063 units delivered in China.

The company points to their efforts of meeting the specific wishes of the Chinese market for the success of the brand. This is practically the move of most car manufacturers in the world today in an attempt to get a chunk ofthe sales from the seconds biggest car market in the world today.

According to Jaguar Land Rover, it is the roll out of the 6 cylinder 3.0 Jaguar XJ aimed at the elites of the business sector of the market which played a major factor for the success of the bran. Jaguar was able to deliver 5,976 units in 2011 in China while Land Rover improved its sales figures by 54% and delivered 36,087 vehicles.

Jaguar Land Rover established 100 dealerships all over China before 2011 ended but the company claims that some customers still has to wait for about a year for their vehicles to be delivered because of the very high demand for some of their units like the recently released Evoque.

The British car manufacturer, owned by Tata Motors of India since 2008 has forecasted to double their sales in Hong Kong by 2017. Last year, they were able to deliver 385 units in Hong Kong and opened a show room which will specifically address the needs of Land Rover fans.

Luxury carmaker Jaguar is planning to add a sports car to their lineup which will be deriving inspiration from the concept car C-X16 that took spotlight in the recent Frankfurt motor show. Jaguar executives in the event shared with the press that this sports car is ready to hit the production line.

Jaguar is also working on a compact sedan but this one will not be hitting the markets until after a few years. The earliest possible date for this new Jaguar vehicle is 2014.

One unadvantage to Jaguar’s game is its V8 5.0L engine that are currently under the hood of the XF, XK, and the XJ. There are new powerplants on the work but are not expected to be done for several years.

The current owner of Jaguar, Tata Motors, will be injecting around $2.45 billion per year on the brand and its sibling Land Rover in the next 60 months in order to improve the production facilities, the line of engines, and come up with new products.

The new sports car following the lines of the C-X16 concept will most likely have a two seat configuration. This new ride is expected to go on sale as early as next year. The 2-door coupe will test the grounds with competitors like the Porsche Boxster. Jaguar sees this new sports car as the successor to the timeless E-Type that was produced half a century ago. The concept vehicle has a V-6 under its long hood. The performance numbers have not yet revealed by Jaguar.

Jaguar is also planning to have a production version of the hybrid C-X75 concept that went to the Paris show last year. The production run for this supercar will start by 2013 thru 2015. This limited run will only roll out 250 units with a price tag of $1.2 to $1.5 million each.

Tata Motors reveals that all vehicle models that we will be seeing in the future from Land Rover and Jaguar will use aluminum for their bodies. Jaguar has been using the technology for some of the members of their fleet and has acknowledged the aerodynamic and weight advantages of the approach.

The move will make Land Rover and Jaguar units a lot lighter and will enjoy fuel efficiency and mileage because of the change. Tata Motors which owns the two brands confirmed the move in the annual report of the company.

Tata makes the move following the negative performance of the tag team brands in 2008 which translates to a $1.1 billion loss. The lack of profit is blamed on the high cost of developing new models amid the global economic crisis. The other factors cited were the high expenses during production and the low demand of the market for luxury vehicles.

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