Jaguar’s fleet sales have a long way to go before they’re at satisfactory levels, Jaguar Land Rover UK boss Jeremy Hicks has admitted.
Speaking exclusively to BusinessCar, Hicks said that Jaguar had been concentrating on the launch of the F-type sports car and not on its fleet sales.
The firm revealed a mid-size SUV called C-X17 at last month’s Frankfurt show, which will also form the base for a rival to cars such as the BMW 3-series and Audi A4. The new premium saloon will go on sale in 2015, ahead of the 4×4.
“The new [saloon] car for Jaguar will be the breakthrough car for fleet,” said Hicks.
“We don’t talk growth or future sales figures, but of all our areas fleet is our weakest at the moment, so the opportunity is significant.
“The XF estate is on plan, but there are more opportunities for it. At 129g/km that’s good. The challenge is getting a high level of awareness. We’ve been concentrating on the F-type, not the XF.”
Hicks added he would continue to keep the Land Rover and Jaguar corporate customer-facing ends of the fleet team separate. And they would only operate at a united JLR team when dealing with contract hire firms.
Meanwhile, Land Rover is looking to attract more user-choosers with a new online forum for prospective owners to talk to existing owners.
The forum is funded by Land Rover, which has selected 100 enthusiast owners as experts, but it does not filter comments – beyond common decency.
Called Talk Land Rover, the site is aimed at offering potential Land Rover owners a place to ask existing owners questions about their cars and experiences.
“All we are doing is hosting our own forum to get to the community,” said Hicks.
“We’re not going to sell to them – that’s not the chat they want.
“People will come in and talk or ask questions and then come back to the Land Rover website when they’re ready to buy. We’ve got to get to know our customers better so we can help them. We’re about being authentic.”