Automotive News Europe - March 2013 - 13

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

AUTOMAKERS

Jaguar Land Rover
bullish on Europe

Sales boss Kuhnt expects F-Type and other new
models to help the automaker re-write its history

ed by the Range Rover Evoque, Land
Rover was Europe’s fastest-growing
brand last year with unit sales up by
35 percent to 100,698. Jaguar increased sales by 3 percent to 23,685
despite the total European market falling 8 percent. Jaguar Land Rover head
of European operations Bernhard Kuhnt
sees a positive 2013 for both brands in
the region because of strong demand
for the recently launched new Range
Rover and the early-summer arrival the
Jaguar F-Type. Kuhnt spoke with Automotive News Europe Managing Editor
Douglas A. Bolduc.

records for us in terms of image and new
customers. We have already seen this
with the Evoque, which has a conquest
rate of 80 percent. So eight out of 10
Evoque buyers are new to the Land Rover
brand. The F-Type will play a similar role.
We expect a significant conquest rate.

Is Jaguar Land Rover profitable
in Europe?
What I can tell you is that Europe is
still our biggest region with about 22
percent of the global volume and, as far
as profit is concerned, we are making
a very healthy contribution to the company’s overall performance.

Will Jaguar get an SUV?
We can’t talk about future products,
but what I can say is that we are open
enough as an organization to look at all
areas and segments. It could be SUVs,
small cars, hybrids and so on. We are
looking at a variety of things. If they
make sense, they will happen and if they
don’t make sense, they won’t happen.

Last year, Land Rover’s European
sales rose 35 percent and Jaguar
increased 3 percent. What are the
sales expectations for 2013?
I don’t expect we can replicate our [Land
Rover unit sales] growth because Spain
and Italy are going through a very difficult
time. Overall, though, I think we will grow
very profitably. A key reason for this is
the Range Rover, which we launched in
December. We have long delivery times
because the demand already is more than
1,000 units above the capacity. If I could
get more Range Rovers, I am sure we
could sell them. Another positive surprise
is that customers are ordering Range Rovers with many optional features. Meanwhile, Jaguar will increase its volume this
year because of the F-Type. We foresee
a slight year-over-year sales increase for
Jaguar in every European country.
What are you expecting from
the F-Type?
The F-Type is a unique car that will set

MARCH 2013

Is your model portfolio inadequate?
When it comes to Land Rover, I think
we have an excellent position. We also
have a very good lineup at Jaguar, but
we are very aware that we need to look
at segments below the ones that we are
competing in currently.

Will there be an SUV smaller than
the Evoque to compete with the
planned small Jeep?
We are interested in growing segments
as well as big segments. The [recently
launched] Sportbrake is an example of
this. Wagons make up 50 percent of the
volume for cars in the XF’s segment in
Europe. We don’t have the aim to be the
No. 1 premium brand. We want to grow
profitability. If is makes sense for us to
enter a segment with the right vehicle,
like we did with the Evoque, we will.
Do you measure yourself against
your German rivals?
The three German premium brands
are very successful so we constantly
need to be one our toes to compete
with them. We can’t compete with them
on all levels but if you compare Land
Rover’s sales to the sales of comparable SUVs at some of our German rivals,
we’re right there with them.

JLR’s Europe sales boss
❚ NAME: Bernhard Kuhnt
❚ TITLE: Director of European Operations,
Jaguar Land Rover
❚ AGE: 45
❚ BASED: Whitley, England
❚ MAIN CHALLENGE: Maintain profitability
in Europe despite the downturn; successfully
launch the Jaguar F-Type.

Will profits from the Evoque shrink
now that lower specification variants
are coming to market?
I don’t foresee this. The starting price
for the Evoque in Europe is about
35,000 euros. Our average selling price
for the car is about 53,000 to 54,000
euros depending on the country. Customers have a huge choice of options
with that car and they taking advantage
of this by adding lots of extras.
How big will JLR get?
If our CEO Dr. [Ralf] Speth lets me stay
with the company until 2016-2017, I can
tell you that we are all going to be very
busy up until that stage. On the product
side we’re going to see more than the
company has ever seen in its history.

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Automotive News Europe - March 2013

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