JLR to cut options and extend warranty

Jaguar Land Rover Australia boss Mark Cameron has promised the car-maker will soon ditch its lengthy options list in a bid to reduce unwanted complexity.

Cameron also told carsales that an extension of Jaguar Land Rover’s existing three-year warranty is also under consideration in Australia.

While expensive add-ons are considered de rigueur among luxury marques, the practice is especially prevalent in Jaguar and Land Rover circles; if you believe the PR spin, to “offer customers ultimate personalisation”.

“You’ve been writing long and justifiably about the complexity of our product range and the complexity of our offer to our customers: things that should be standard on our cars that are options,” said Cameron, adding that the facelifted Jaguar XE would be the first example of JLR’s new model range approach.

“We’re absolutely in the middle of addressing that. You would have seen with the Jaguar XE that we’ve slimmed down to two models, and you’ll see more of that this year – we really are on every car line addressing the range we offer and is fit for purpose for this market.”

A prime example of JLR’s complex options structure is the new 13-variant Range Rover Evoque, which asks prospective buyers to wade through an entire catalogue of add-ons covering heated windscreen washer jets to an automatic tailgate and high speed autonomous emergency braking.

Cameron conceded the options-dense Evoque was one of the last vehicles to slip into Australia under the outgoing regime.

“You can appreciate that the gestation period on new cars is five or six years and there are certain gateways that you cannot turn back on after a certain period,” he said.

“The Evoque is probably one of those car lines where people want a bit more choice, but it’s probably still a little bit heavy in that choice.

“What we want to try and get to is one petrol and one diesel engine per trim level in each series. So with XE, for example, you have a petrol and diesel on the base trim levels, then more powerful versions of those engines as you walk up through the model grades.”

Cameron told carsales that he was looking strongly at warranty provisions in Australia, in the wake of the mainstream market’s extension to five-year programs.

“We are looking at warranty but we’re not ready to announce anything yet,” he said.

“I think the mainstream’s going to five years, so suddenly we’re all looking at it. There’s definitely a direction of travel there.”

Cameron’s sentiments fly in the face of comments from BMW Australia boss Vikram Pawah, who argues that customers are not interested in “the marketing benefit” of a longer warranty.