No concerns about hot SUV twins in JLR

Jaguar Land Rover Australia officials are predicting that the incoming Jaguar F-Pace crossover will find its place in the crowded luxury crossover space – and that it won’t cannibalise sales from the existing Range Rover Sport line.

The Range Rover Sport sold 2576 units in 2014, helping the Land Rover brand record its first post-10,000 sale year in its history in Australia.

Due to be revealed in production form at the Frankfurt motor show in September this year, the F-Pace will join a growing roster of hot crossover and SUVs for JLR Australia, including Range Rover Sport’s hot-rod SVR variant.

JLR Australia managing director Matthew Wiesner was emphatic about the F-Pace’s positioning, and is convinced that in-house competition from the Range Rover Sport won’t present a drama for the Jaguar.

“It's got to be a dynamic driver's SUV,” he said. “From all accounts, it’s heading in the right direction. Think of it as very much a dynamic crossover we don’t refer to it as an SUV.”

Mr Wiesner acknowledged that there was a lot of discussion about positioning JLR Australia’s existing model line-up correctly, in light of the inbound products.

“There's some competitive spirit around the place and we see that in some of the discussions we're having with the product guys in and around pricing discussions and the like,” Mr Wiesner said. “As to what those considerations are, as they should be, you want it to be competitive.

“We have a genuine need to have a (Jaguar) product in that key segment, and at the end of the day a couple walk into a showroom and some will walk into Land Rover and others will walk into Jaguar. It makes the brand more relevant.”

Providing additional purchasing opportunities within JLR Australia’s own network is an added advantage, he noted.

“If you have someone who's come in and bought two or three Range Rover Sports, for example and is keen to make a change, we'd rather create the opportunity ourselves for them to change into than have them run off and go and try one of another brands,” said Mr Wiesner.

“Let's be a bit smarter about managing our own owner base by creating other opportunities for them.”

Traditionally popular with older buyers, Mr Wiesner said the renewed product mix will expose the brand to a new generation of purchaser.

“We suddenly open up Jaguar to a whole new growing market trend that Jaguar's never had before. We're about to drop XE into arguably the toughest segment in the country, then we put ourselves in a position where we can grab the Jaguar brand a year later and put it into the (luxury crossover) segment space.

“It creates an opportunity for us to bring people in who would never consider the Jaguar if we hadn't been in that space.”