bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Mukul Munish

Jonathan Browning, managing director of Jaguar Cars, is on a roll these days - well, in a manner of speaking. Ever since he was appointed to the post in June, the British luxury-car marque has been on a rebound, with sales picking up in the United States and Asia-Pacific last year.

 The icing on the cake for Jaguar came last Sunday when it made its debut in Melbourne's Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship.

 'In 1999, we sold a record 75,000 cars worldwide and this year we are looking to quadruple the sales to over 200,000,' said Mr Browning on a whistle-stop visit to Hong Kong last week.

 'We received tremendous response from the Australian public and were competitive in the first race,' he said of the Melbourne race.

 The Jaguar R1 line-up was led by Eddie Irvine, the winner of the 1999 Australian Grand Prix.

 Jaguar cars are not new to motor sports. They have been victorious in the field for more than 50 years, winning Le Mans seven times, three World Sportscar Championships, the US' toughest sportscar race at Daytona, the Monte Carlo Rally and the Coupe des Alpes.

 'Formula One, with its massive global reach, will clearly promote a wider recognition of the Jaguar marque. Eighty per cent of the cars Jaguar builds are exported. The international dimension of Formula One is a major attraction,' said Mr Browning.

 'We know from our previous involvement in motor sports that a successful racing programme has major commercial benefits. For example, it will give us that vital connection with the performance-orientated buyers - a key factor as we introduce new cars in the future.'  Therefore, in Hong Kong, the top executive of Jaguar was talking business on how to sell more cars in an important luxury-car market.

 The company is concentrating on the Hong Kong market, more so now as the economic recovery takes shape and people start to look around for new-model cars.

 A recently released retail sales figure for the city for January showed that sales volumes rose across the board, with motor vehicles showing the strongest increase, up 46 per cent on the same month last year.

 'The role of the Hong Kong market is very important. Hong Kong takes a leading role in influencing consumer trends,' said Mr Browning.

 He has a point, for sales of Jaguar cars did not dip drastically during the economic downturn over the past two years.

 'We were affected by the Asian crisis in a way, but are now benefiting from the overall recovery,' Mr Browning said.

 The recovery has brought extra demand for Jaguar's new model, the S-Type sedans, launched last year.

 The S-Type's sale has been brisk in Hong Kong, mainly because it has been promoted as a family car.

 Previously, Hong Kongers, having a rather sporty image of Jaguar cars, tended to buy Italian and German marques for the simple reason that they were promoted as family cars.

 With the new S-Type, Jaguar is looking to change that perception of its marque.

 The retail price of the Jaguar car in the SAR varies from $628,000 for a three-litre engine to $738,000 for a four-litre one.

 Locally, even though Mercedes-Benz and BMW are the preferred models for the yuppy car-owners, Jaguars are fast gaining their attention.

 The same applies to other Asian-Pacific markets, where the Jaguar marque is considered as 'cool'.

 'In Melbourne I saw a bunch of teenagers waving the Jaguar flag, and one of them said 'Jaguar is cool'. And I thought 'yes, that's the reaction we want',' said Mr Browning.

 The price tag puts Jaguar cars in the top bracket of the luxury-car market, among the BMWs and the Mercedes-Benzs.

 The British car also competes with the German models in its other major markets, the US and Europe.

 Mr Browning said Jaguar was the fastest-growing manufacturer in Germany, the home turf of BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and was gaining market share in Italy, home of such classic cars as Ferrari and Lamborghini.

 'Jaguar is expanding rapidly, we have just reported record sales for last year. In Europe we grew faster than any other car-manufacturers, and we have even more ambitious plans for the future,' he said.

 In providing further proof of the revival of the fortunes of the British car-maker, owned by American car-manufacturer Ford, Mr Browning said that according to a survey by J.D. Powers, a leading research house for cars, Jaguar was the top brand in its category in the US last year.

 'In the early 90s we were at the bottom of the list,' he added.

 There is also new enthusiasm among the Jaguar design engineers as they prepare to launch the company's next new model, the X-400 saloon, next year.

 Jaguar's parent Ford is also banking on the success of the new model to further continue the momentum gained last year, with record sales.

 The soft-spoken Englishman joined Jaguar's management team at the right time, when his expertise was most needed by the British car-maker.

 Mr Browning joined General Motors in 1981, where he held successively senior appointments in sales, marketing, general management and brand management in Britain and overseas markets.

  He then joined Ford in July 1997 as executive director of European marketing, sales and service organisation.

 'The company has a strong management team which has already delivered a remarkable transformation in 10 years. I look forward to achieving the substantial growth opportunities which clearly exist for the marque,' Mr Browning said.



Jaguar works on new image