Jaguar has denied reports that it has formalised plans to have just 20 UK dealerships or fewer when it begins its reinvention as an EV-only brand in 2025, saying it has yet to decide on its final retail structure.
Car Dealer reported last weekend that Jaguar will axe more than 60 UK dealers over the next two years as it pivots to the agency sales model. It said the manufacturer told its UK retail partners of the cuts at a recent investor’s meeting and that only 15 to 18 would remain.
Jaguar issued a statement in response denying that it had settled on the final level of dealership representation it would have. But it didn't deny that there would be cuts.
In response to Autocar’s queries, it said: “Jaguar Land Rover is reimagining the future of modern luxury by design through its iconic British brands. As part of our Reimagine strategy, one of our key objectives is to establish new benchmark standards in customer service for the luxury sector.
"We will adapt our customer journey for our future clients, providing multiple touchpoints, delivering leading luxury experiences and creating a customer-centric culture.
“Our objective is to build a stronger and more sustainably profitable Jaguar and Land Rover network for the future. We are consulting with our retail partners on how we achieve this objective, but it is too early to disclose details due to their commercial nature.
“The first of the new all-electric Jaguars will be revealed before the end of 2024 and will be with customers in 2025. We will tell you more about Jaguar's future before the end of this year.”
JLR UK sales director Paddy McGillycuddy last month confirmed to Autocar Business that the shift to the agency model and the House of Brands ethos would lead to “some consolidation” of the firm’s dealer network.
The new showroom design will have floor space divided between Jaguar and the Land Rover sub-brands Defender, Discovery and Range Rover.
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Bentley sold 15,000 cars in 2022. The world's worst automotive CEO Thierry Bollore wanted Jaguar to become a rival for Bentley. That means instead of building over 100,000 cars that Jaguar could easily do, and more than twice that if it did rivals to the 1-Series and A-Classes, it would decimate itself to build a fraction.
That means 90% of Jaguar's workforce has to go. And don't expect those who buy a £30-50k Jaguar to buy into this plan. Even a figure of selling 50,000 units is fantasy land stuff.
Bollore's plan was to kill of Jaguar. The new CEO has to realise this isn't going to end well for the company. You need to take your customers with you, you need to walk through a hybrid period, and Jaguar needs more entry level offerings to bring people into the brand, not alienate them.