Jaguar Land Rover boss brushes off threat of Chinese imports
The boss of Jaguar Land Rover yesterday brushed off the threat posed by cheap Chinese imports, suggesting they are not in the same league as its more upmarket brands, writes John-Paul Ford Rojas.
The car maker’s chief executive, PB Balaji, said the likes of BYD, Jaecoo and Omoda were not “direct competition” – despite the Jaecoo 7 model being dubbed the ‘Temu Range Rover’ because it is seen as a cut-price alternative to the JLR-produced original.
“The brands – Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar – these straddle a very different segment compared to where the current cars are coming in from Chinese players,” he said.
Balaji’s comments came as JLR, Britain’s biggest car maker, slumped to a loss of £308m for the year to the end of March after being hit by a cyber attack that temporarily shut down production last year, compared to a profit of £2.47bn a year earlier.
Revenues were down 21pc, or more than £6bn, to £22.9bn.
Indian-owned JLR admitted it had been a “challenging” year, with tariffs also taking their toll, while rising costs stoked by the Iran war could create pressure to put up prices.
In the UK market, traditional car brands are being squeezed as previously unknown Chinese rivals race ahead.
Sales of Chinese cars made up 5.5pc of the market last year, up from 0.7pc in 2024.
The Jaecoo 7 has shot to prominence as one of Britain’s best-selling cars so far this year.
At £30,000, it sells for around half the price of the Range Rover Velar model, to which it is often compared.
But Balaji said: “We do not see this as direct competition.
“Demand for our products, particularly in the UK, has been pretty strong and we expect it to continue.”
Balaji also signalled that he was ready for a fight with billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.
The billionaire wants to replace JLR’s Land Rover as the British Army’s vehicle of choice with the Grenadier, made by his firm Ineos.
Jaecoo 7 has been dubbed the 'Temu Range Rover'.
Balaji said: “We’ll be keen to compete in that and we’re confident of winning it.”
He also attacked plans being hatched in Brussels for a ‘Made in Europe’ policy for electric vehicles that could mean 70pc of an EV’s components must be produced in EU countries.
He said: “There are already enough challenges that the industry is facing – we shouldn’t be adding to that.”
Comments (0)