Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

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Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

Introduction

In the UK car market, there is a range of impressive car manufacturers. They manufacture different

models in order to match the customer demand and also the competitive market. Some of the major

producers that manufacture cars in UK are Tata Motors (Jaguar, Land Rovers), GM (Vauxhall/Opel),

BMW (MINI, Rolls Royce), Nissan, VW (Bentley), Honda, and Toyota. For the last 5 years, automotive

has been the biggest UK manufacturing export sector whereby they exported more than 78% of the

manufactured cars overseas (Ford Motors 2009).

Car manufacturing is a very profitable business, that’s why most of the manufacturing industries are daily

upgrading their market mix in order to meet their customers demand and also match the market

competition. This is a mature market and there are entry barriers imposed mostly for the newcomers. The

business requires enough resources and heavy investments as a source of raw materials, and also strong

technological experience. For each market segment, newcomers face strong competition as they try to

venture into the business (Thomson 2008).

The JLR Company is one of the UK Car manufacturing company founded in 1922 by two motorcycle

enthusiasts namely William Lyons and William Walmsley as Jaguar. At first, the company was producing

motorcycle side cars and later switched to car manufacturing. The company merged with the British

Motor Corporation I 1966 and also Leyland and became British Leyland in 1975 (Thomson 2008).

Jaguar was first listed in the London Stock Exchange in 1985 and became become FTSE100 index

constituent till it was acquired by Ford in 1989. Later in march 2008, both Jaguar and Land Rover were

bought by Tata Motors, which is an Indian Corporation. However through an agreement, Ford had the

responsibility of feeding Jaguar with the necessary information, technology, power trains and also the

future products (Ford Motors 2009).

JLR is recognized not only in UK but worldwide for being the leading in producing the most luxurious

cars. The company manufactures a wide range of luxurious cars such as convertibles, sedans such as S

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Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

type, XK, XJ, X type, and also sedans. There are also the range rovers for the Land Rovers. Currently,

the company is forth listed in the UK market after GM, Honda, and the BMW with annual turnover of £3,

397000. JLR operates in a niche market since their goods have little consumer base in the global market.

This is well confirmed from the luxury and the executive segment which is responsible for about 11000

cars which are sold annually in the UK. It is due to this market hardness that has led the Jaguar Company

to incorporate some strategies which are explained in form of SWOT analysis that would help in

improving the company’s operation.

The SWOT analysis of Jaguar Land Rover

Strengths

Jaguar Land Rovers have very successful brands in the global market which have their strengths. To

start with, the company’s main strength is their leading brand of luxurious cars. Most of the company’s

cars have won some prestigious awards making the products publically acceptable. This has made Jaguar

to have an instant recognizable icon. Some of these awards include, Gear magazine awards which had

double win (best interior of the year and the best executive car of the year in 2009), and also Magazine

2009 fleet world honors. These awards came along when the company had introduced unique selling

point in Jaguar drive selector TM, Jaguar Sequential Shift TM, and Jaguar drive Control TM.

Secondly, the TATA ownership is a positive impact to the company. Though previously had negative

reactions about the sale of JLR in 2008, TATA has so far shown a genuine commitment in improving the

existing company brands and also develop more brands which would fit in the market and improve the

sales. This is because TATA Motors Limited is an old company and is the largest car producing company

in India. Following the TATA SWOT analysis, there is a great hope of improving the sales of the JLR

Company.

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Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

The Land Rovers British brand image is also one of the main strengths. The defender vehicle is one of the

strongest with the highest longevity compared to other cars. The fact that the car features is set for

maximum redesign, it brings in a good move in the 21st century.

The Range Rover brand also continues to top in sales especially in the Indian and the Chinese markets. It

has also established good markets in the Middle Eastern markets of which it has gained good market in

the recent years.

Weaknesses

Though the Jaguar Land Rover is quite popular in UK, it’s not the same case in the rest of the world. The

company is facing a hard opposition in struggle for market share in other continents such as Europe, Asia,

and North America by their rival competitors such as BMW 3 and 7 series, Mercedes, Porsche and Audi.

N addition, in the recent market reports, the company has been losing in the US market with their sales

declining daily. In the end of 2008, JLR recalled 2008/09 XF sedans due to rare seatbelt issue assembly.

They also recalled 2003/04 XJ model to collect abrasion of corrosion protection issue.

The increasing reliance of 4X4 in the global market would lead to risk increase in consideration of the

worldwide increase of economic crisis. The current trending issue on emission of CO 2 and the govern

legislation regarding this issue would bring in some changes would lead to impacts on the 4X4 vehicles.

Since the road tax increase did not have big impact in the market, there would b introduction of stronger

methods of reducing the increased number of large inefficient vehicles. Therefore the Land Rovers need

to be prepared for this in advance; Evoque certainly would be the next destination (Pierini & Eckert

2008).

Most of the company’s models need to improve in order to gain trust from customers in Japan and

German markets. There have been slight improvement in branding over the last few years and this calls

for more improvement in order to face the high competition. In the year 2011, all JLR brands were

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Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

considered below average in comparison to their cost and expected off-load capabilities (Duane &

Michael 2011).

Opportunity

In need of increasing market share and sales, JTR has targeted Canada as new market, where it has

introduced some of their new models such as XF series, and the 2010 Jaguar XF Supercharged. The

company has also expanded its operations in the Indian and Chinese markets and it has been ranked as

one of the fastest growing car markets in the moment. In an addition, JTR has been active in commitment

in reducing the emission of CO2 the energy consumption per vehicle increase investment in the

technology innovations hence giving a good hope of growth (Barney 2010).

Threats

Since most of JLR cars are exported overseas, the company market highly depends on the daily

fluctuation of the currency which sometimes can lead to disadvantages in the global competitors. For

instance, strong British Pound compared to weak Euro or Yen would reduce company’s sales or weaken

the financial status of the company in the Chinese and European markets. The change in price of oil and

other raw materials can also be a threat in the company’s profit. The current legislation rules from EU

standard on CO2 emission might lead to high financial crisis if the company fails to obey fully (Gross

2008).

Following the SWOT analysis, there is needed to understand the company’s latest car models and their

impact as analyzed in the market mix. It is clear to say that though JLR is enjoying market power in

Europe market, in other continents there are stiff completion from other manufacturers. Recently, in most

of these oversea markets, JLR products have been experiencing negative result in sales. This reduction of

sales has also been highly motivated by the recent economic crises globally which has affected all

automobile firms (Huselid 2006).

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Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

For JLR to enjoy good sales and market shares in both Europe market and overseas there are many

changes and strategies to be laid down. This is would involve some decisions involving Human Resource

matters in order to realize and gain the potential in order to make the performance of the company

successful. This is mainly on the market mix strategy of the company.

JLR market mix

Product plan

JLR cars can satisfy the needs of the most fussy customers, because it "uses the latest materials

and technology to help make it the most efficient and luxurious. Fashionable design of the car

models is one of its biggest advantages, as it makes the product extremely attractive to

prospective consumers. For instance, the interior of the car "is superbly smart and effortlessly

elegant (Barney 2010).

The jaguar and land Rover cars interior features a suite of the latest technologies to provide

driver and passengers with the most comfortable, most enjoyable experience possible". Each

version of Range Rover includes Climate Control – Automatic with Air Filtration, Interior mood

lighting, Oxford Leather Steering Wheel and the Covered Centre Console. The 2.2-litre 150hp

eD4 engine of Range Rover for example, is one of its greatest strengths, which differs the car

from the previous models of Land Rover, as it was engineered to deliver quieter and more

refined performance (Huselid 2006).

Pricing plan

The price of the JLR cars differs depending on the car model and the engine specifications. As

written on the Landrovers website,”customers can choose one of the three design themes: Pure,

Prestige, Dynamic”. Pure is the cheapest version of the car which ranges between £ 29,195-32,

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Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

695. The range rover Evoque is the most expensive of all land rovers models.In ordr to attract

more customers, the company has to come with new pricing policy (Pierini & Eckert 2008). For

the jaguar model the XJ Luxury 3.0 V6 Diesel would be available from £53, 775 (all tax

included). Though most of jaguar cars are meant for rich people, the company is trying to

revelutionalize the market by producing models which would compete with cheap cars from

other companies (Duane & Michael 2011).

Promotion plan

The Jaguar land Rover company has established a promotion strategy through TV music

competitions where by a car would be a reward for the best singer. This would be the best way of

building the imageof the company. Use of dealerships themselves is also one of the common

advertising strategy. In this strategy, pressure is put on customers and persuaded to buy the car.

This is mostly done through impressive showrooms and good deals. Other promoting plan would

be through internet promotion press advertisement in men’s style, fashion, car magazines etc

(Bacon 2009).

Implementation of the market mix

The marketing mix should be implemented by groups of marketing experts responsible for

advertising through cooperation with music industry, TV and newspapers (Media team), Internet

promotion and public relations (Internet and PR team), cooperation with intermediaries/sales

centres (distribution team). There should be additional team controlling the product’s

performance on the market (customer satisfaction, pricing policy, trends, sales records). This

team will monitor sales monthly. If sales start decreasing, the company might change the pricing

policy (for example, seasonal price reductions).

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Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

Conclusion

Jaguar Land Rover faces a tough market, as there is wide SUV competition from most car

manufacturers, because the market is huge and luxury SUVs such as the Escalade and Cadillac

are highly regarded. Therefore, relaunch of Range Rover Evoque is a key element of building the

new image of the firm that must stand out from the crowd to increase its profits. Thanks to trust-

based marketing, Jaguar Land Rover will be perceived as a company that not only creates the

good-quality cars, but also supports noble initiatives. Since JLR will build strong consumer trust

and create a more loyal customer base, buying the company’s new car will appear to be the best

choice for the prospective consumer

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Jaguar Land Rover SWOT Analysis

References

Duane, I, & Michael, A 2011, Understanding business strategy: concepts and cases: Mason, South-

Western Cengage Learning

Ford Motors 2009, ’Tata Motors enter into Definitive Agreement with Ford for purchase of Jaguar Land

Rover’, Press release.

Thomson, R 2008, “Tata Motors completes acquisition of Jaguar’, Press release

Bacon, N 2009, ‘Competitive advantage through human resource management: best practice or core

competencies?’ Human Relations, Vol.4, pp. 361–372.

Barney, J 2010, ‘Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage’, Journal of Management, 17, pp.

99–120

Huselid, A 2006, ‘Strategic human resources management: where do we go from here?’ Journal of

Management, Vol. 32, pp. 898–925

Gross, S 2009, End-of-life vehicles management in Europe: driving the change: Cases of Sweden and

Germany. IIEE, Lund University

Pierini, M & Eckert, V 2008, ‘Strategy-based approach to eco-design: Application to an automotive

component’, International Journal of Vehicle Design, vol. 6, pp 156-171

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