A new corporate identity and a revolution at Jaguar means exciting – and busy – times for Andrew Jago, general manager, fleet and business, JLR.

Andrew Jago, general manager, fleet and business, JLR

What does the House of Brands setup at JLR mean for fleets?

AJ: We want to deliver the best experience for our fleet and business drivers and ensure they felt no different to any other customer. We’ve changed how our cars have been delivered, so instead of being arranged through a leasing company and delivered to home or work, we get the retailers involved.

All of our big key accounts have been moved to a direct sale agreement and orders are allocated to the fleet business retailer closest to the driver. I wanted those retailers to contact the drivers when the cars are delivered – or ready for delivery – and encourage them to take delivery there. It sounds obvious, but most of our end-users never see the retailer, they literally get cars delivered and there’s no ‘wow’ moment with their new car.

What difference has it made?

AJ: We’ve had a 40% improvement in satisfaction ratings between a remote handover and doing it at the retailer. We’ve had really positive feedback from those drivers because they no longer feel like it’s just a commodity experience; instead, they have a real connection with the brand. It also enables the retailer to introduce drivers to the service department themselves. So, they’re not just thinking about the delivery of the car, it allows them to give drivers peace of mind that when they need any servicing or maintenance, they know where to come to and who to see.

How have Jaguar drivers fared with EVs?

AJ: Obviously, I-Pace was launched back in 2018 and we’re now seeing end-of-contract cars coming back. I got some contract hire data and we are increasingly seeing cars come back to us with way over 100,000 miles. In terms of actual usability and durability, that’s quite a strong proof point for us to be able to say, confidently, that the technology is working in the real world. Drivers have also clearly worked out how to access infrastructure effectively – either at home, office or public chargers.

Despite the fact that I-Pace was the first premium SUV in the market, it remains highly competitive in terms of range, charging time and performance. If you look at where it sits, it still performs well against its competitors, so we’re still in a good place with it.

A lot of early adopters are going back into I-Pace

What have drivers gone into from I-Pace?

AJ: What’s encouraging is that we’ve seen a lot of early adopters going back into I-Pace, despite the much wider choice in the marketplace. That gave us a lot of credibility and learnings to take into the next generation of products as we start to bring them on stream.

Where does that leave the rest of the Jaguar range?

AJ: We won’t be launching any of the new range of electric Jaguars until 2025, but the existing lineup is still in production. Some of the product lines might not be huge volumes, but we’ve got a whole load of orders to fulfil that we’re building and delivering now. While the first Jaguar has been confirmed, I can’t give any more details on the others right now – apart from to say there will be several products. The final number is still being discussed internally because we are evaluating lots of different concepts.

What opportunities does the revamped line-up offer?

AJ: There are a couple of concepts that some people within the business would be very happy to see – including me! Beyond that, we’re in a unique situation where we’re able to reset the brand completely. And that’s really exciting because we can decide what direction we want to go in, based on the product lineup that is decided. We will be like a new EV brand, but one with an existing heritage and legacy. The products are quite polarising, deliberately. They are very much a copy of nothing and you couldn’t mistake them for anything else.