Big Shake-Up on The Cards for JLR UK Dealer Network

JLR is running the rule over its dealer network in what is expected to be a radical reshaping of its UK business.

The new Jaguar EV range of the future will have a price range starting at £100,000 and running to £200,000. Future sales of its new range in the UK will be radically cut to 6,000 a year.

As a result, Motor Trader Magazine was told by a dealer source that dealer numbers could cut from 88 to 18.

Potential cuts to dealer numbers are a hugely sensitive subject given the massive investment they have made in recent years.

JLR carried out a restructuring of the network in 2016, aiming for common ownership of Jaguar cars and Land Rover cars, resulting in 117 Land Rover and 84 Jaguar sites combined and reduced to 138; run by 35 partners.

To achieve this JLR dealers invested £1bn in UK premises with a new corporate look as part of JLR’s overhaul of the UK network. One dealer source said: ‘When the 2016 franchise concept came out there was a simple ultimatum from JLR – either you invest in these new sites or they’d find someone else who would.

‘The fact we’re now being told a few years later that Jaguar is not part of the plans and we’ll lose that brand is unbelievable.’

Senior motor trade accountants and auditors have now warned Jaguar Land Rover dealers that they may have to write down the values of their dealerships as a result of the drastic changes.

It has not been made public which dealers will keep their franchises. It is understood those that lose Jaguar sales will either cease as a JLR partner or focus solely on Land Rover sales.

CarDealer Magazine asked JLR if it will compensate dealers, it had previously asked to invest huge sums of money and whether it would allow franchise holders to use the space vacated by Jaguar for other brands. JLR declined to comment.

But Jaguar has denied it has settled on a plan to have just 20 or fewer UK dealers. JLR issued a holding statement saying it wanted to build a “sustainably profitable Jaguar and Land Rover network for the future. We are consulting with our retail partners on how we achieve this objective but it is too early to disclose details due to their commercial nature.”

“The first of the new, all-electric Jaguars will be revealed before the end of 2024, and will be with customers in 2025. We will tell you more about Jaguar’s future before the end of this year.” .

Editor - Information for this story sourced from MotorTrader and CarDealer