Jaguar Land Rover now in Zim

If you did a little survey on which brands most encapsulate the essence of Britain, I feel sure that Jaguar and Land Rover would be near the top of your list yet both have been “foreign-owned” for quite some time. Without wishing to embark on a long history lesson, I will briefly tell you that US — based Ford owned the leaping Jaguar symbol before selling to Tata and the same company owned Land Rover, having bought the name from that dyed-in-the-wool German outfit called the Bayerische Motoren Werke who took over in 1994 and sold to the Blue Oval in 2000.
In fact, Jaguar and Land Rover were an integral part of Ford’s ill-fated Premier Automotive Group and there’s no doubt whatsover that both brands suffered brand equity dilution under American ownership. They also shared a reputation for dodgy reliability, and in the case of Jaguar in particular, plummeting sales. The company seemed stuck in a time warp, producing S and X-Types that were hard to tell apart and which hid Ford running gear under their too familiar bodywork. These inadequately differentiated ranges were topped off with a flagship XJ that looked little different from the saloon that represented Grace, Space and Pace in the late 1960s. Curiously, the previous owners of  Ja-guar were adament that customer clinics indicated that the way forward was to cling to the past in terms of visual execution, yet such a tactic failed to find sufficient buyers. Could just be that they were all dying off and that the Leaping Cat was simply failing to attract new buyers.
This stick-in-the mud philosophy began to change with the introduction of the current XK sports car series and it was totally swept away when the bold and dynamic XF Series appeared in the last year.   The history book was truly closed and with it came a new confidence and belief in the brand very evident in the enthusiasm displayed by Nigel Clarke, Jaguar Land Rover SA’s Regional Business Manager for sub-Sahara Africa who recently hosted a group of pen pushers representing the Zimbabwe media.
Sub-Sahara Africa is a mighty large area as it even includes Mali and Niger which to me are very much in the Sahara, but this may account for why the effervescent Mr Clarke spends much of his time in the air. The mere fact that an office has been established to represent this huge land mass is in itself a clear indication of a change of mindset at Jaguar Land Rover.  They’re on the move — “at last”, I hear some of you muttering — and the Germans and Japs would be well-advised to take a good look in their respective rearview mirrors in the coming months.
This is especially true in Zimbabawe, from where the days of driving to Polokwane for a service or of calling the office in Jo’burg for parts may well be irritating distractions of the past. The reason? Well, Jaguar Land Rover have just consummated the appointment of Premier Auto Services in Harare to handle the joint franchise which will soon develop into a full-service outlet with a dedicated workshop and parts set-up and a separate showroom authorised to display the full Jaguar Land Rover brand ID.
Local Group Chairman, Moses Chingwena, isn’t just investing in pretty images though. This is a long-term investment in technolgy and with it, customer confidence. That means Premier Auto Services will be equipped with all the electronic gizzmos so essential to maintaining modern motor vehicles and just as important, staff will be fully trained with the assistance of the relevant division of Jaguar Land Rover South Africa. If anything has held back Jaguar and Land Rover in Zimbabwe, it’s been sketchy support and to an extent, dodgy reliability. The latter issue would appear to be on the mend as Jaguar in particular claws its way up the satisfaction charts and Land Rover consigns niggles to the mud patches its products so capably drive through. New vehicles will benefit from a full factory warranty and in due course, attention will be paid to the introduction of sweeteners such as maintenance plans and the like.In other words, welcome to the 21st century, potential Jaguar and Land Rover owners in Zimbabwe!