Jaguar Land Rover will officially rebrand to JLR as it pushes forward with plans to dramatically overhaul its corporate image while launching a family of radical new electric cars.
Speaking today at a wide-reaching company update presentation, CEO Adrian Mardell confirmed the rebranding of the company away from Jaguar Land Rover, where the cars are created under two brands “making magic in the Midlands”, and instead calling itself JLR, a “house of brands” with cars created under Range Rover, Discovery, Defender and Jaguar names.
Land Rover would become a “trust mark” for the Defender, Range Rover and Discovery brands, said chief creative officer Gerry McGovern.
“The reality is Range Rover is a brand and so is Defender,’” said McGovern. “Customers say they own a Range Rover. In luxury, you need absolute clarity. Land Rover Range Rover SV Autobiography doesn’t give it.
“We love Land Rover, but there isn’t as much equity as Range Rover, and Defender is increasing massively.”
On the rebirth of Jaguar as an electric-only luxury brand, Mardell said this was something that’s “very personal” and “unfinished business” for him, having originally joined Jaguar 32 years ago. “The Jaguar of 32 years ago is where we’re going back to and the right place for us to be.”
Mardell acknowledged that JLR had been “quiet” over the past couple of years as it battled several key global challenges faced by the whole industry, most notably semiconductor chip supply.
Mardell said this was now easing, while confirming that JLR had stronger and deeper relationships with chip suppliers off the back of the crisis with future supply secured, and that it was able to start delivering models within its record 200,000-strong order bank, more than three quarters of which are of the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Defender models.