Reliability Concerns a Top Priority for Jaguar Land Rover CEO
Long an Achilles’ heel for the British brands, new JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré is putting a focus on reliability.
Late last month, I wrote a post about how Jaguar’s strategy going forward will see the brand offering more expensive vehicles with less overlap. It’s a bold move, and to be clear, there’s absolutely no guarantee that it’ll work. To ensure the company has a fighting chance, CEO Thierry Bolloré is focusing on reliability, which has long been a problem for both Jag and Land Rover. Here’s what he recently told our friends across the Pond at Autocar:
“This is the first pillar of Reimagine, our transformation plan,” said Bolloré. “Our results have been unacceptable, but we know how to fix them. It’s not science, just hard work. Already the 2021 results are better, but we have more to do.”
“We now have a member of the board responsible for the whole value chain, which makes a big difference,” said Bolloré.
It’s not hyperbole to say that the future of the marque — or at least Jaguar as we know it — hinges on success here. And while the company has apparently made improvements since Bolloré took the helm in September of last year, it’s also worth noting that Jaguar Land Rover has basically not had anywhere to go but up in the dependability department. The brand still lives in the basement there, even as other luxury makers like Porsche regularly top the charts.
Given how drastically Jaguar is revamping its lineup, and the challenges associated with going all-electric in just four years, the push couldn’t come at a better time. Because in some ways, the designers and engineers will have a clean slate. After all, electric motors are less complex than internal combustion engines, and if reliability is focus from the very beginning of the design stage, as Bolloré is promising it is, the potential for improvement is dramatic.
Personally, I’m a little worried about the future of the Jaguar. Automotive history is littered with beloved car companies which couldn’t adapt to a changing landscape, and reputations are easy to ruin, but much tougher to repair. So I’ll be keeping an eye on quality surveys, to see just how much improvement we see from JLR in the coming months and years, as right now, it means everything. But what do you think? Am I Chicken Little for envisioning a falling sky? Or does the company’s future look bright? Hit me up and let me know!
Photos: Jaguar Land Rover