We won't be as big as Benz, BMW or Audi: Jaguar Land Rover sales boss

The British don't want to beat the Germans this time around, with Jaguar Land Rover preferring to build brand cred than chase outright sales victory.

Jaguar Land Rover’s sales are on a steep upward trend with 521,000 cars sold last year, an increase of 13 per cent on the previous year, but the company’s Global Sales Operations Director Andy Goss said the British brand has no plans to beat Benz, BMW or Audi.

“We’re not as big as the German three OEMs and we’re not going to be as big as them, what we’ve got to do is be massively credible, protect the Jaguar and Land Rover brands and get a strong business,” Goss said.

“If you look how big the German carmakers are – they’re two to three million cars a year, we’re doing 521,000. Audi’s sold half a million in China alone. That’s just not our plan…

“There’s not some big mantra in the company that says you’ve got to do a million sales by “X” date. We’ll do a million when we do a million,” he said.

“The important thing is we have sustainability – that is really critical, sustainable growth that allows us to keep investing in the brand and the products, fundamentally investing in the technologies and the whole thing moves forward and is on the right flight path.”

“We’re not selling commodities, yes we’ve got a business plan like everyone has a business plan and the business plan has growth in it because we invest more than 15 per cent of our turnover every year on product development, manufacturing, and technology so it’s got to go in that direction.

“The bottom line is genuinely not the only line.”

From January to August this year Jaguar Land Rover has sold 372,978 vehicles globally, up 24 per cent year on year. The break down sees Land Rover moving 287,252 units and Jaguar with 85,726 - an increase of 14 per cent and 72 per cent respectively.

In comparison Mercedes-Benz sold 1,170,389 vehicles globally in the first seven months of this year.

Do you fancy a Jaguar Land Rover product over one of the big German brands? Tell us what you think in the comments below.