Jaguar Land Rover brand separation

Jaguar Land Rover’s stated plan to move to the direct-selling ‘agency’ model by the end of 2024 will involve a separation of its products into four distinct brands: Range Rover, Discovery, Defender and Jaguar.

This will be reflected in the showroom layout, with JLR’s UK sales head suggesting that each brand will have its own separate area in the dealership. Dubbed ‘house of brands’, the new-style dealerships will require further redesigning of the ‘arch’ showroom design concept which was introduced back in 2016 to introduce the idea of dual-branded Land Rover/Jaguar dealerships.

The final design details have yet to be finalised, but it’s suggested that the newstyle showrooms will lose the traditional desks and adopt a more luxury-focused experience with soft furnishings and lounge-style ambience.

Under the agency sales model which is becoming more common in Europe, the dealership acts purely as a sales agent for the car maker, which handles the sale process directly, with the dealer getting a fixed fee for each sale. In theory the arrangement removes any opportunity for haggling and so is particularly appropriate for more upmarket brands, which is of course where JLR hopes to position Jaguar upon its EV-powered revival.

Industry pundits have suggested that the retail separation of JLR brands in this way would make it easier for owner Tata to dispose of the Jaguar brand to another car maker, since it’s no secret that the Land Rover models are the profitable products.