JLR plans to expand SVO performance division

• JLR sold over 9,500 units of its performance SVR models (developed by SVO) over the last year.
• The strongest sellers were the Range Rover Sport SVR, Velar SVAutobiography and Jaguar F-Pace SVR.
• The company has also reported a 20 percent increase in bespoke commissions.

Sales of Jaguar Land Rover’s SVR performance models leapt by 64 percent, to over 9,500 units, in the past year. They were buoyed by continuing strong demand for the five-year-old Range Rover Sport SVR, with important new contributions from the SVO division's two most recent models – the Jaguar F-Pace SVR and the Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic – which were launched internationally, last year.

The company also reports a 20 percent hike in bespoke commissions and, pandemic permitting, expects further expansion.

Most of SVO’s offerings are currently SUV-based, now that the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 and F-Type SVR have run their course, but managing director Michael van der Sande insists the company has its eye on further expansion and that “there will be future saloons [sedans] and sportscars” in the SVR range.

Van der Sande says the arrival of the F-Pace and Velar models have successfully taken SVO into a new sub-£1,00,000 (approximately Rs 92 lakh) category but there are no plans currently to move lower, perhaps into Range Rover Evoque territory. “But I wouldn’t rule it out,” he adds. 

As well as offering the widest SV range yet, van der Sande attributes his division’s success to a rapid increase in the number of SVR centres around the world. At present, there are 100, but he expects that number to grow to around 200 “over the next couple of years”.

Van der Sande says his division has been learning a lot from a large JLR dealership that was opened in Munich, Germany about six months ago with an SV-specific configuration suite. There are seven SVO cars on display, the biggest line-up outside the UK.

He said: “As you can imagine, we’re keen to meet German demand, which is going well, but we’re also learning a lot for the future of our business elsewhere. We want to ensure that staff in these new centres cater for premium customers in the way they expect and have a deep knowledge of the products.”

Closer to home, Jaguar recently launched the facelifted F-Type sportscar in India, with prices starting at Rs 95.12 lakh (ex-showroom, India). Land Rover has also announced the prices for the all-new Defender 90 and 110, which will be launched later this year.