Jaguar Land Rover, the British car maker owned by India's Tata Motors, aims to double its sales in Hong Kong over the next five years with an eye on boosting its profile both locally and in the mainland market, according to Joseph Lau, Hong Kong general manager for the brands at official distributor Inchcape.
'Hong Kong is a unique market because it is not very big ... but there are so many affluent Chinese visitors coming here,' said Lau. 'They see what is popular among Hong Kong people and view those brands as high quality. That way they get automatic recognition on the mainland.'
Inchcape is using local launches of new Jaguar Land Rover models to also target prospective mainland buyers, buying up space on prominent outdoor billboards in areas popular with tourists, like Causeway Bay, and also advertising at the airport.
The strategy is part of a bigger regional push to grow the brands, which Tata acquired from Ford Motors in 2008 for US$2.3 billion. Inchcape has long been the local distributor of Jaguar cars, and starting from this month replaced Sime Darby - Ford's local importer - as the official distributor of Land Rover.
Inchcape recently opened a new showroom for Land Rover on Gloucester Road, renovated its Wan Chai Jaguar showroom and added a second service centre for both brands in Kwai Chung.
The company hopes to double local sales of JLR vehicles in the next five years, up from an expected 135 Jaguar deliveries this year and 250 Land Rover deliveries.
The British carmaker would launch 40 new models over the same time period, Lau said.
