Jaguar, Land Rover get new boss in USA, he hopes to sell 50,000 units a year

Jaguar and Land Rover have been working hard to expand their lineups in order to keep up with their competitors. As a result, a new boss was appointed for the brands’ North American branch. And to make sure that Jaguar and Land Rover are on par with the sales of direct competitors like BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, a new sales goal has been set, albeit an ambitious one too.

“Both brands have some similarities in the fact that we are planning for growth predicated on product introductions,” said Andy Goss, Jaguar and Land Rover North America’s new boss.

Goss wants to boost annual US sales of the two English brands over the next five years to 50,000 units per year. To achieve that, Goss said that the challenge for Land Rover and Jaguar is to attract new buyers. Additionally, because Jaguar’s 160 dealers in the US all differ in terms of their appearances, Goss wants to streamline the themes of the dealers to a “common standard by 2012.”

“From the network perspective, dealing with the volume isn’t the issue,” said Goss. “In terms of the network, it is getting them ready to understand that they will be dealing with people they haven’t dealt with before. You have to make them feel special.”

And to us, that shouldn’t be too hard. Driving a Land Rover or a Jaguar can be a special occasion because they offer unique driving experiences from their comforting warmth of Britishness. But it’s not the cars that are the issue, it’s getting people to notice them.

Compared to Goss’s new sales goal, Land Rover last year sold only 31,864 units total here in the states while Jaguar only sold 13,340 cars in 2010.

– By: Chris Chin

Source: Automotive News