*This article is reposted from autocarweekly WeChat account.

Author: Joey

In my knowledge, the Jaguar Land Rover brand has always regarded “British” as its criterion. It’s not their fault, as these two brands come from the UK and have won many glories belonging to the brand in the UK. No one will easily give up such an origin.

Although a display of three royal badges authorized by the British royal family was still presented at the Jaguar Land Rover press conference held in West Shanghai yesterday, what I heard was a declaration of “in China, for China”.

In fact, this is not the first time that overseas automobile brands have mentioned serving the Chinese market and meeting the needs of Chinese consumers. But it can be seen from the level of brand concept that Jaguar Land Rover attaches great importance to the Chinese market and that the Chinese market is important to Jaguar Land Rover. It is worth noting that in the year 2020, when all automobile brands suffered severe sales decline due to the epidemic, the growth in the Chinese market truly preserved the vitality of the Jaguar Land Rover brand.

At the press conference in Shanghai this time, Jaguar and Land Rover brands respectively exhibited their own classic models, the Jaguar XFL and the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque L, both priced below 500,000 yuan. The intention is clear, relying on the strong vitality of the Chinese market once again, and giving 2021 sales a shot in the arm. The formula of this shot in the arm is to fully meet the preferences of Chinese users.

Can the Range Rover Evoque L conquer Chinese consumers?

Undoubtedly, the Range Rover Evoque has been a star model under the Land Rover brand since its inception. In an era when Land Rover still boasted off-road performance and advocated a “simple, large, black and rough” design, the appearance of the Range Rover Evoque truly illuminated a brighter path for this brand.

This can be seen from the fact that when this mid-size SUV was first imported into China, it was priced at more than 600,000 yuan. More importantly, even so, it was still in short supply. It was also because of the hot pursuit of Chinese consumers that Chery Jaguar Land Rover soon localized it.

In fact, the design of the Range Rover Evoque is not like some other models that were amazing in the first generation but gradually faded away in later iterations. In its later iterations, the design of the Range Rover Evoque inherited many design elements of the Land Rover Velar, and still maintained a very high level. However, space is actually an important performance point that this vehicle deserves to improve, especially in a country like China that pays great attention to ride space experience.

It is based on such demand that the new Range Rover Evoque has strengthened its space with an elongated wheelbase of 160mm to provide a more comfortable and luxurious ride. Do not underestimate this extra 160mm, as it will completely change the cramped seating experience of the previous Evoque. Finally, your two-meter long legs can be completely free from the embarrassing situation of having nowhere to place them.

At the same time, the newly upgraded InControl OS 2.0 system has comparable features and user experience with smartphones, along with leading five-screen linkage technology, providing users with more convenient and humanized services. Within such a five-screen linkage system, the traditional design of physical buttons has been basically eliminated, and a new ecological and human-vehicle interaction mode is emerging. All riders can find a screen that displays the information they want.

In addition, the ATRS all-terrain technology, which is still proud of by Range Rover, as well as a variety of personalized options and color collision roof options prepared for more personalized user groups, give Range Rover Evoque the confidence to match every individual user. There is no doubt that Chinese users who have upgraded their aesthetics and demands do need this all-round upgraded Range Rover Evoque.

How does design + configuration reflect luxury?

Luxury and performance have always been the two most important product characteristics of the Jaguar brand, and this time the XFL mid-term facelift continues to focus on these two product features.

To put it in the language of the press conference, it is a higher level of “luxury” and “sportiness.” Compared to the Range Rover Evoque L, this XFL was already unveiled at the previous Shanghai Auto Show, and this release is more about announcing its price range of RMB 399,800 – 499,800.

So how does this car reflect luxury and performance? The gear lever with numerous diamond-like facets is a prominent feature. It seems that the gear lever is really a point that can reflect the product’s sense of quality. The recently launched Volvo XC60 also comes equipped with a crystal gear lever that dazzles the eye.

# Interior Design

In the interior design, Jaguar Land Rover specially played a comparative video to showcase the updates and changes in many details of the XFL. The changes in the angle of the door handles and the overall design language of the audio area will make the new XFL more in line with the usage habits of Chinese users.

Performance

In terms of performance, you can still find the all-aluminum body structure that Jaguar Land Rover is proud of, providing three power system options and four-wheel drive mode. For a luxury sedan, these configurations are already comprehensive.

Challenges

In fact, although these two new cars launched by Jaguar Land Rover do have unique advantages, they also face fierce competition in the relatively more intense market competition. Taking the Range Rover Evoque L as an example, in just over half a month, luxury brands have new models or appearances in the same price range, such as Audi Q5L, Volvo XC60, and Lexus NX, etc.

The appearance of these models may lead to market saturation, and it can be said that even if the Range Rover Evoque L is more in line with the market needs in terms of product power and brand strength, how many people it can really attract still needs sales to provide an answer.

The pressure faced by the mid-term upgraded XF models of Jaguar Land Rover is even greater. Although it can be seen that Jaguar has given much thought to the pricing of this car in order to gain more advantage in operating space through price and configuration differences, its price range undoubtedly has to directly face the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

In such a highly squeezed price range, how to fight through requires to continuously maintain strong product and marketing capabilities to win over more consumers.

Of course, Jaguar Land Rover’s recognition of the Chinese market and emphasis on Chinese consumer needs are highly commendable. However, if Jaguar Land Rover can go further and make the customized car versions for China as global standards, which output to all Jaguar Land Rover models worldwide, it may further drive the sales of these two cars and even more products under the brand.“`markdown

After all, in this era, all domestic Chinese brands have set their sights on the global market, and a luxury car brand that has already established itself globally should have an even broader vision and perspective.
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This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.