The turmoil at Jaguar Land Rover’s headquarters in the U.K. has not impacted dealers, says Larry Zinn, chairman of the Jaguar Land Rover Retailer Cabinet.
CEO Thierry Ballore, after just two years on the job, left abruptly in December.
The reinvention of Jaguar as an all-electric superluxury brand remains on track, with a new three-vehicle lineup due in about two years.
And while most of JLR’s competitors have found ways to earn significant profits while dealing with the microchip shortage, JLR hasn’t had a profitable quarter in almost two years.
The automaker has a backlog of more than 250,000 orders for the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender.
But the shortage of vehicles isn’t all bad news. It has helped reduce incentives and prompted customers to order their vehicles, often with expensive customized features.
Dealers, Zinn said, had a great 2022.
“Jaguar Land Rover dealers have been performing at a very high level in relation to the rest of the luxury industry,” Zinn told Automotive News. “In the long term, if and when inventory normalizes, we’ll certainly see margins go down, but the volumes will go up. Hopefully that’s the offset that we need to continue to maintain the levels of profitability that we have. Additionally, with more volume comes more servicing and parts sales.”