JLR drops ‘Land Rover’ brand, announces EV GT car in £15bn investment strategy
April 20, 2023 by Hugo Griffiths
Car changing is a big deal
Firm sets out financial and brand strategy for the next five years; new EV to be built in Solihull
The firm formerly known as Jaguar Land Rover has rebranded simply as ‘JLR’ and will focus on two brands and two nameplates in its new five-year strategy.
Gone is the Land Rover name in any standalone capacity, with the company saying it will instead focus on Range Rover and Jaguar, as well as the Defender and Discovery names, under a new ‘house of brands’ strategy.
“We love Land Rover, but there isn’t as much equity as Range Rover” said JLR’s chief creative officer, Gerry McGovern, explaining: “The reality is Range Rover is a brand and so is Defender…Customers say they own a Range Rover. In luxury, you need absolute clarity.”
The well-recognised Land Rover badge, which has been in existence for 75 years, will not be dispensed with entirely, JLR says, and will remain as a “trust mark” on vehicles rather than being a brand in its own right.
Aside from naming conventions, JLR has set out a £15 billion UK investment strategy that will see a new four-door, 430-mile-range electric Jaguar GT car built at the firm’s Solihull plant near Birmingham, and go on sale in 2024 ahead of first deliveries in 2025. This will be the “first of three reimagined modern luxury Jaguars”, while orders for an all-electric version of the flagship Range Rover will open later this year.
Jaguar was, aside from Tesla, the first premium manufacturer to offer an all-electric car, but while the I-Pace was well-received by critics, it has not been the sales success the firm had hoped for, while its assembly was outsourced to Austrian firm Magna Steyr, rather than being built in-house.
In addition to the new GT car, part of JLR’s £15-billion investment will be put to use increasing its “industrial footprint, vehicle programmes, autonomous, AI [artificial intelligence] and digital technologies”.