JLR, formerly Jaguar Land Rover, will completely overhaul its retail network in line with its all-out repositioning as a luxury manufacturer, introducing the agency sales model and transforming its showrooms to give a much “warmer” and “less formal” experience.
Briefing Autocar on how the company’s Reimagine strategy will affect its retail operations – following a wide-reaching product preview led by CEO Adrian Mardell in April – company bosses explained why “we have to change, we can't do what we've always done” in light of fierce competition from new premium-market contenders and upheaval in the car sales sphere.
Interim UK managing director Patrick McGillycuddy explained: “If you look at our current model, we devolve responsibility for the client interaction entirely to our retail partners as a function of the franchise model.
“What's fundamental to our modern luxury journey is that we have to take greater ownership of the client relationship because, in fact, clients want it and demand a direct, closer, deeper relationship with the brands that they're buying into.”
As JLR separates its retail sites into four distinct zones for its newly carved-out sub-brands – Jaguar, Defender, Range Rover and Discovery – it will evolve its trademark, 10-year-old ‘Arch’ dealership design cues to incorporate a “much warmer, much more hospitable and much more relaxed” buying experience, explained national sales manager Kirsty Griffin.
The firm’s new Northampton dealership is a pioneer of this approach, with its reception desk swapped for a coffee bar, the demo cars displayed “like works of art” and the ‘transactional’ dealer desks removed to foster a more conversational, concierge-like interaction with customers. Even the soundtrack in the showrooms has been changed.
Each of the four brands now has its own colour palette and associated imagery, as well, which is already visible in marketing materials and will come to define each individual area of the dealerships. The firm has also just revealed a new logo for the rebrand to JLR, though this will not appear prominently on cars or in dealerships.
Taking this approach is a reflection of JLR’s shift away from a volume-driven model and an embodiment of its ‘Modern Luxury’ aspirations. Claiming control of the purchasing process removes the need to haggle – which head of agency transformation Mandi Newitt said “is not part of the luxury journey” – and more easily enables customers to use a combination of online and offline processes to buy their car “in their own time”.
Nonetheless, McGillycuddy stressed that JLR’s retailers “continue to be a massive, fundamental part of our go-to-market strategy around delivering the best possible client experience”.
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