JAGUAR will build on the success of the XE mid-size sedan with the launch of its F-Pace SUV that will help drive new sales records and bring a completely new buyer to the iconic brand.

The F-Pace will be marketed as a sporty, yet practical mid- to large-size SUV and will take on a diverse range of competitors including the BMW X3 and X4, Audi Q5 and Q7, Mercedes-Benz GLC/GLE and GLC/GLE Coupe, Lexus’ NX and RX, the Infiniti QX70 and Porsche’s Macan and Cayenne.

Jaguar is expecting it to make up 50 per cent of its overall sales – with 90 per cent of buyers expected to defect from other brands – and while company executives are remaining coy about specific sales targets for its first SUV, it will have a positive impact on the company’s overall sales in Australia.

The British brand has been given a serious sales boost from the BMW 3 Series-rivalling XE sedan that landed in August last year, with 911 finding home so far this year, easily making it Jag’s best seller.

The strong sales have put the XE within a whisker of Lexus IS sales (918 units) and not too far off Audi’s new A4 (1314), but it is well behind the segment-leading Mercedes-Benz C-Class (3272) and BMW’s resurgent 3 Series (2562).

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Australia managing director Matthew Wiesner said the leaping cat brand was averaging between 200 and 240 overall sales per month, and while he would not be drawn on annual sales targets, he anticipates a strong end to 2016.

“It will be a cracking year,” he told GoAuto at the launch of the F-Pace in Byron Bay last week. “XE is doing the job we want. It is a performance sedan … that is the job it is doing and the message that it is getting out there about a pretty cool sports saloon.

“It is getting around eight to 10 per cent of that (premium mid-size) segment, which is what we were always wanting. It is creating a nice base. Then F-Pace comes in on top. We can see some significant growth from August.”

 

While the XE has been playing its part by eating into the market share of other, more established models in the premium mid-size segment, the F-Pace will introduce new buyers to the Jaguar brand, according to Mr Wiesner.

“F-Pace will absolutely bring a lot of new people into the business and into the dealers who have never walked into, let alone thought about a Jaguar. Or a Land Rover for that matter. That will bring some positive rub-off onto XE and other things as well.”

Mr Wiesner said the versatility of the F-Pace has opened Jaguar up to buyers that may have previously not considered putting it on their shopping list.

“Another interesting factor will be because of our broader reach, and we are already seeing interest amongst families, especially female buyers as well. Just because of the design and useability – once you open that boot and realise it’s not as compact as some in that segment. It’s very useable, a lot of space, it can fit into the family lifestyle. That just adds more opportunity for us.”

Jaguar has hovered just above or below the 1000-unit annual sales mark for the past 10 years, finally gaining some momentum in 2014 (1167) before hitting a high of 1292 units last year, thanks to run-out XF and new XE.

The brand’s overall tally of 1274 units to the end of June is 183 per cent ahead of the same period last year, thanks almost entirely to the XE.

Sales of the larger but mechanically related XF sedan that launched in February have slipped by 31.5 per cent so far this year to 231, keeping it off the pace of rivals such as the soon-to-be-replaced Mercedes-Benz E-Class (437), BMW 5 Series (297) and Audi A6 (258).

Mr Wiesner said a successful run-out of the previous-generation XF, aggressive deals from rivals in the segment and interest in the smaller XE have combined to have an impact on XF sales.

“We went through a good run-out of the old one – a pretty aggressive run-out. That segment is so aggressive with the behaviour of all those in there. If you look at the segment, at best it is stagnant … and it is a pretty small segment too.

“There are a couple of vehicles of this type putting pressure on those buyers and they are looking at different things, but also products below – 3 Series, C-Class, XE and all the others – are pretty decent-sized compact sedans these days.

“People go, ‘Do I need to spend a bit more on that or am I happy with this?’ We have just got to manage that segment (XF) now we have XE sitting below it.”

The model range expansion will be complemented by a dealer network expansion from 21 outlets to 45 Jaguar Land Rover dealers by early next year, of which eight to 10 are in the process of transitioning from solely Land Rover retailers to offering both brands, according to Mr Wiesner.

He said that the F-Pace provides Jaguar with “the opportunity to get Jaguar back into regional Australia”, adding that dealers showed “plenty of enthusiasm, especially once they saw it and touched it and realised where we were going”.

In the next six to 12 months there will be new sites in Rockhampton, Queensland, Shepparton, Victoria, and Gosford in New South Wales, while JLR is in the process of appointing a retailer in Bunbury (WA) and Wagga Wagga (NSW).

Mr Wiesner said there was about $120-150 million worth of investment going into the network, covering significant refurbishments for existing sites, complete rebuilds and new sites coming into the fold.

By Tim Nicholson