We do not plan to catch up, we plan to lead: JLR CEO Thierry Bollore

Thierry Bollore took over in September 2020 from Ralf Speth [Image: Reuters]

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) CEO Thierry Bollore has said he wants the two British brands to make ‘the most desirable luxury vehicles’ as they chase growth in a post-pandemic interval embracing electric mobility and be challenged by its German rivals.

Bollore who took over in September 2020 from Ralf Speth has promised investors of delivering double-digit EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin, become one of the world’s most profitable luxury manufacturers and make the company net zero carbon by 2039.

“Our will is to become the creator of the world’s most desirable luxury vehicles and products, for the most discerning of customers. Our plan is not to catch up; our plan is to lead,” Bollore said in the 2020-21 annual report of Jaguar Land Rover.

Bollore’s team is working towards a future which will see the manufacturing capacities of JLR reduced by a quarter, halving of its product architecture and an increase in the average selling price of its models thereby boosting its profits over the course of next few years.

Under the ‘Reimagine’ plan that was laid out in mid-February the two Tata Motors-owned brands will be transformed by electrification with six new all-electric Land Rover models in the next five years and Jaguar completely reimagined as a pure electric brand from 2025. Presently JLR has only one fully electric model, Jaguar I-Pace, on sale globally.

German luxury giant Mercedes-Benz has promised to launch ten different electric vehicles to the market supported by investment of more than Euro 10 billion towards it. BMW Group will have 12 pure EVs on sale by 2023 and make the Mini brand an EV-only brand by 2030.

“We are now becoming a more agile organisation. We will create a knowledge-sharing collaborative ecosystem with the very best partners in global industry to leapfrog forward in clean energy, software and digitalisation. Jaguar Land Rover will focus on value creation through a profit-over-volume approach,” Bollore added.

During FY21 JLR saw 14 percent decline in retail volumes to 439,588 units as against 508,659 units sold in FY20. Revenues slumped 14 percent during FY21 to GBP 19.7 billion from GBP 23 billion recorded in FY20. The net loss of the two brands also widened to GBP 1.1 billion during FY21 from GBP 469 million posted in FY20.

“I am very excited by this new aspiration of the company which will help it cement its place as a sustainable mobility leader. We are also working together to drive greater collaboration and synergies within the Tata Group in areas like clean energy, connected services, data and software development,” Natarajan Chandrasekaran, non-executive director and chairman, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC added in the annual report.