Jaguar Land Rover China roars into 2014

Jaguar Land Rover China President Bob Grace is pictured after an interview on Jan 13, 2014. [Photo by Hao Yan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Joint venture with China's Chery Automotive expected to be producing prototypes by mid-year

Exciting new products, soaring sales numbers, and the potential for explosive growth.

These were among the announcements Bob Grace, president of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) China, promised to deliver at the upcoming Auto China 2014 set to rev-up in April in Beijing.

Other aspects of the company remained the same: "The growth driver, apart from the new joint venture factory, is just to continue deliver a great new product," he said.

These were hardly the only big takeaways from an interview on Monday with Grace.

The 51-year-old president, appointed to the position in 2010, also announced that Land Rover will release its first-ever low-emission, hybrid SUV in the middle of this year, and predicted that the two-year-old joint production between the British carmaker and China's Chery Automotive will begin to meet the demands of the growing Chinese market.

"I think by the middle of this year, we should start to see the first stages of the prototype production happening in Changshu," said Grace, referring to the new jointly run factory in China's Jiangsu province.

The release of JLR's 2013 sales figures were also enough to set the pulse racing.

The company sold more than 95,200 cars last year, 30 percent more than that of 2012. The Chinese market also contributed 22.4 percent of the global sales volume of 425,000 units.

"The reaction from Chinese consumers has been phenomenal on Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, and also to Jaguar F-Type," said Grace.

In fact, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Trading (Shanghai) Co, the British carmaker's China company, has seen sales of its Jaguar brand car surge 140 percent to over 17,800 in 2013. Additionally, 77,300 Land Rover vehicles were sold, up 17 percent.

China sales

China's eastern region contributed 38 percent to the total sales, the highest proportion among sales region.

The company's most popular product is Range Rover Evoque which was launched in November 2011. The medium-sized urban SUV has contributed 36 percent to the Land Rover sales.

China overtook the UK in 2013 as JLR's largest single market, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive announced in its annual report for the previous financial year, which ended on March 31, 2013.

And more vehicles are on the way.

"This year, we'll bring Jaguar F-Type Coupe to the market, and we'll bring an all-new Land Rover product to the market," said Grace.

The Jaguar F-Type Coupe just debuted in November in the US, with three types of the sports car: F-Type Coupe, F-Type S Coupe and F-Type R Coupe.

In the middle of this year, according to Grace, Land Rover will launch its first low-emission, hybrid SUV.

In the third quarter, a cooperative effort between JLR and the Intel corporation will yield enhanced levels of connectivity and intelligence in the company's next generation car.

Jobs and demand

The company announced in March 2012 the signing of joint venture with Chery Automotive to build a factory to manufacture cars in China.

"Today in the joint venture, there are probably about 700 people. Within the national sales company here I look after we've got about 350 people," Grace said.

"As we step up production, as we start recruiting production workers, we'll be into 3,000. Maybe more than 3,000 people, will be employed directly in the joint venture," he added.

Chinese regulatory approval was received in October 2012 for a total investment of $1.8 billion equity each from Jaguar Land Rover and Chery.

The balance of the investment is to be funded by debt in the name of the joint venture without recourse to or guarantees from Jaguar Land Rover or Chery.

JLR initially invested $116 million in the new joint ventures, consisting of $114 million in Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co and $1.6 million in Suzhou Chery Jaguar Land Rover Trading Co, according to JLR's 2012-2013 annual report.

JLR and Chery also established Suzhou Chery Jaguar Land Rover Trading Co Ltd in April 2012 in Suzhou city, Jiangsu province, and Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co Ltd in January 2013 in Changshu city, Jiangsu province.

"From a joint venture with Chery Automotive in China to developing our own range of low-emission engines, our destiny is firmly in our hands and it is a responsibility our senior leadership team takes very seriously," said Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover CEO, in the annual report.