Page 66 - Trends

THE LAST WORD TAKING THE WHEEL

Bruce Robertson, Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover MENA,
speaks to Sunil Kumar Singh on the future of self-driving cars
in the Middle East and more.

H ow would you describe Jaguar What are your predictions for this across the region, from 40 currently to
year? Will the market recover?
roughly 60 by 2020. Currently, the UAE
Land Rover’s journey so far in
continues to be the largest market in the
the Middle East?
Market volatility is not new to the region
Despite all the talk about a slow-
down, I believe the region is still growing and car manufacturers need to reassess Middle East in terms of volume.
and adjust their position according the
fast and most of the countries are invest- changing market conditions. To be realis- What are your plans for electric and
ing heavily in infrastructure develop- tic, I think we’re not going to see a much autonomous vehicles?
ment. Jaguar Land Rover has a long his- recovery in the market in 2018. Jaguar Land Rover is actively involved in
tory and a strong heritage in the region. We will, however, see a level of stabil- the development of electric and autono-
In recent years, we’ve done particularly ity and, hopefully, we won’t see a further mous cars and, within the next ten years,
well in terms of expanding our network, decline. As long as there is political sta- ZH ZLOO KDYH DOO RI RXU YHKLFOHV ÀWWHG ZLWK
launching new products in the regional bility in the region, it will continue to electric or self-driving technology.
market and pushing up the sales volume. drive economic stability.
Jaguar Land Rover has been a market How optimistic are you for the Saudi
leader in the region in many aspects, and What is the core of your business strat- market, especially when women have
we believe we’ll continue to see growth egy in the region — is it the focus on been allowed to drive from this year?
in the region in the future, driven by our new products or something else? Saudi is the largest vehicle market in the
strong dealership network. :H EHOLHYH WKDW LQ GLIÀFXOW WLPHV DQ RU- region. Hopefully, this year, we will see
ganization should continue investing in improvement in the economic environ-
Many automobile companies are hav- its business, so it can be well-prepared ment of the kingdom that will, in turn,
ing a tough time in the region, with when the good times come. We haven’t encourage growth of the overall auto-
sales volumes going down. How has cut costs and have continued to invest mobile market. Having said that, the de-
your performance been so far? in new products and in streamlining our cision to allow women to drive is a very
We are not different either and, in fact, customer-focused services across the re- positive step. Women in the kingdom
if any auto company says it’s different, gion. Last year alone, we invested nearly have traditionally been involved in the
it’s perhaps not telling the truth. Having £1.5 billion on new products. car purchasing process, so I don’t believe
said that, in some respects, we consider the decision to allow women to drive will
ourselves more fortunate than most of our The Saudi Arabian economy, as is VHH VLJQLÀFDQW LQFUHDVH LQ YHKLFOH VDOHV
peers in the region. the case with its neighbors, is going On a broader scale, we believe this is
For one, we’ve been able to expand our through a rough patch. Is this forcing not just about selling cars, but a harbin-
range of products, which has allowed us you to renegotiate dealership terms? ger of a fundamental change in the Saudi
to grow our market share. In essence, Absolutely not, as we continue to em- society. For, Saudi Arabia will see an in-
we’ve gained market share even in a de- phasize on customer satisfaction, sus- crease in the number of women teaching
clining market. WDLQDELOLW\ DQG SURÀWDELOLW\ :H DUH YHU\ in the driving schools, lady test drivers,
1RQHWKHOHVV RXU VDOHV ÀJXUHV KDYH happy with our business partners in Sau- driving schools only for women and so
EHHQ LPSDFWHG WKRXJK LW·V GLIÀFXOW WR di Arabia, as they continue to represent on. Besides, this decision will also gener-
VKDUH WKH H[DFW ÀJXUHV EHFDXVH RI FRQ- the Jaguar Land Rover brand very well ate huge employment opportunities. This
ÀGHQWLDOLW\ UHDVRQV 'HVSLWH WKDW ZH DUH in the Kingdom. is why we believe this decision will have
ahead of the market in terms of our per- Not only in Saudi Arabia, we are also a much more socio-economic impact
formance relative to the overall decline. aiming to expand our dealership network than just commercial.

66 TRENDS | February 2018