‘JLR is confident of expanding sales volumes and market share’

Luxury car makers, including Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), expect growth in the Indian market due to price reduction after rollout of goods and services tax (GST). ROHIT SURI, managing director, JLR India, tells Ajay Modi, that the company is confident about growing sales volumes and market share in India due to its expanding network, product portfolio, and growth in the overall market. Excerpts:

How does the current year look, considering the last one was a flat year for luxury segment?

The last year was challenging due to various events such as diesel ban, duty increase and demonetisation. This year, the market seems to be much positive. GST will help expand the overall market in the long term. In our segments, prices are coming down due to GST. We definitely see this as a good year. Last calendar year, we retained our market share of eight to nine per cent. This year, with the introduction of new products, we look to increase market share.

JLR aims to double market share in India. By when does it look possible?

In the next two to three years, with a very strong portfolio, we should be able to double the market share. While I am not going into the specific market share that we may hold, we are confident of exponentially increasing market share. We will be strong in SUVs (sport utility vehicles) and gain market share. We definitely expect a (sales) volume and market share growth this year based on what we are doing on the product (side) and on the network side. The overall market growth due to GST will help us. We have repositioned some prices in April and FY18 has started off pretty well.

Are you seeing postponement of purchases due to GST?

We did start to see a little bit of apprehension after GST rates came in. So, we proactively decided to pass on benefits that will accrue in GST regime so that there is no reason for people to postpone purchases. We have started to see footfall coming back.

Luxury car makers including JLR expanded petrol offerings as a reaction to ban on sales of diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region). Is there a shift to petrol cars or buyers no longer want them as the ban got lifted?

After the ban was lifted, there was a lot of confusion and dithering of purchases. It impacted the overall sales for every luxury player. After the ban, there are many people who continue to prefer buying diesel cars but we are starting to see a gradual increase in demand for petrol cars. There is a shift from diesel to petrol, though it varies from segment to segment. The final mix we cannot predict now. We will adapt to the requirement of consumers.

How many JLR vehicles you make in India? Is India also a supplier of components for the global business?

We have five popular products which are now locally produced in both brands — Jaguar and Land Rover. We have a good proportion now being locally produced. On the component side, there are suppliers who supply from all over the world, including India, for JLR. Four to five years ago, there were hardly any suppliers from India. Now we have certain critical components coming from India and we hope this will increase further if components are competitive. That drive continues. It is difficult to put a number here.

How significant is the used-car business for JLR? Why is it becoming critical?

We recently launched the approved programme and we are doing it strongly across network. There are many people who aspire to own a Jaguar and Land Rover product but sometimes pricing becomes a restriction for us. We have been in India for seven to eight years and we have a good park of used JLR cars (about 17,000 units). Our used car also delivers value for money and we support it with extended service packages, etc. It becomes a good option. Customers who are not able to take our new car can consider the used car with a starting price of ~20 lakh. Used-car business helps the existing customers to upgrade to new cars and allows new buyers to experience a JLR so that they may in the future upgrade to a new car.

Q&A

ROHIT SURI

Managing Director, JLR India