Rebranding is common in companies, an example is Cepsa, which after 90 years of existence has changed its name. He also just did it Land Rover and it comes hand in hand with a shift in its strategy with an eye toward electrification.
The brand as such has already disappeared, but it does not mean that its cars will do so. Its range remains as we knew it, but now goes to market under three independent brands: Range Rover, Discovery and Defender. They join Jaguar in the JLR conglomerate.
Specialize but also improve your brand image
JLR had already announced a year ago that Land Rover would cease to exist as a brand. Now, this change has been made effective. If we go to their website, which for the moment maintains the domain as Land Rover.esthe first thing that appears are these three firms that previously gave names to their models.
With this new direction, the firm intends to specialize by targeting specific clients in each of them. But it also represents a washing of the brand image, which has been overshadowed by continuous quality and reliability problems reported by the owners of its cars. This has caused it to lose close to 100,000 potential clients, according to JLR itself in 2021.
The same cars, for now. For the range that was formerly Land Rover, there are no changes. Its main asset will continue to be Range Rover, which has the largest family under this name: Evoque, Velar Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.
For its part, Defender Simply put, it comes in three versions according to its body: the Defender 90 (three doors), the Defender 110 (five doors) and the Defender 130 (five doors with a long body). AND Discover It has two models: the Discover and Discovery Sport.
Therefore, their family is exactly the same. And at the moment it does not affect the price of these models either. The Range Rover Evoque, for example, starts at 59,500 euros and the Range Rover, its model par excellence, at 149,150 euros. At least that’s how it will be in the beginning. Although it is to be expected that new versions will arrive in each of these brands.
In fact, to publicize this rebranding, it has recently released a very limited variant of the Defender, the Eivissa, of only six units. But above all, it has added the Defender OCTA, a new culmination of this firm now starting at over 200,000 euros. It moves thanks to a mild-hybrid mechanics with no less than 635 HP. And it also integrates the most advanced off-road technology of the house.
Defender OCTA
Three brands to establish themselves in electrification. JLR’s plan with this three-way division is to further specialize its range. Range Roverthe pretty girl, materializes the top of the range of this conglomerate, its intention being to compete with firms such as Bentley or Rolls-Royce. Although it will be behind Jaguar, which wants to recover its halo of exclusivity: “Jaguar will once again be for a few.”
Discoveryon the contrary, happens to be its access brand seeking to offer family and more versatile cars. And the off-road spirit that has always been Land Rover’s watchword will fall mainly on Defender. While the Range Rovers will continue to offer notable offroad capabilities, the Defenders will focus more on this segment. In addition, they are halfway between the Discovery and the Range Rover in price, becoming JLR’s mid-range.
But also, this brand division defines its electrical strategywhich will be executed at different rhythms in each of them. Although it will maintain its flexible longitudinal modular platform (MLA), on which the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are based, which houses thermal, hybrid or fully electric cars. The first 100% electric car will precisely be the Range Rover Electricwhich is set for release in 2025.
Although another of the objectives of this division is to improve its profitability. In any case, JLR has improved its numbers after the crisis derived from the coronavirus. Last year it increased its sales by almost 22% and posted net profits of £661 million.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
