Jaguar hoping to take a larger bite out of China market
- Source: Global Times
- [02:07 April 26 2010]
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A classic Jaguar displayed at the show. Photo: IC
By Li Woke
British luxury automaker Jaguar saw sales in the first quarter of 2010 reach 591 units in China, up 68 percent, its best quarterly sales mark in the country ever, and a move toward bringing the troubled brand back to profitability.
"We are very pleased to see this outstanding performance. At present, Jaguar's business in China has leaped to fourth in global markets," managing director Christopher Brown said at the Beijing Auto Show Friday.
In 2008 the British luxury car manufacturer was sold by Ford for $2.5 billion to India's Tata Motors. At present, Jaguar has 37 dealerships in the Chinese mainland, and is operated as part of the Jaguar Land Rover business.
Big automakers, including Volkswagen and Ford, are targeting drivers in India and China as disposable incomes rise in the world's two fastest-growing major economies. China became the world's largest auto market in 2009 with a 46 percent jump in sales.
Jaguar sedans, priced from 640,000 yuan to over 2.1 million yuan ($93,745-$307,601), rival BMW and Mercedes-Benz offerings in China. Although sales in March this year hit an unprecedented 300 units and increased 142 percent, Jaguar's sales figure were far behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz reported a 77 percent gain in 2009 deliveries to the Chinese mainland, reaching 68,500 units, the highest sales ever during the company's 23 years in China.
In 2009, BMW saw sales growth of 90,563 vehicles on the Chinese mainland and 241,727 cars in the United States.
Jaguar is mostly counting on the XJ sedan to boost sales in China this year.
The eye-catching XJ will launch simultaneously in the US, the UK and China - the first time ever the brand has launched a vehicle at the same time in the three major markets. "We have great confidence in the Chinese market. For the coming 10 years, 45 percent of global growth will be here," Brown said.
