The sheer number of people wanting a personalized and bespoke Land Rover product must be untenable because JLR has decided to invest 65 million GBP in streamlining the process. They’re reporting that the demand has DOUBLED. I don’t know the base number, but I’ve seen many more custom Range Rovers in the last couple of years.
Personalizing your car is all the rage. It always has been, ever since someone decided to put custom wheels on their 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 1. I’m kidding, no one did this (prove me wrong please) but the point is, ever since we’ve had cars, we’ve wanted to stand apart from the pack. JLR and many other luxury brands make this easy as they’ve got a bespoke program to make your car a one-of-one type of build.
The issue is typically price. JLR reports the cost can be upwards of seventy thousand pounds on top of a two-hundred-thousand-pound vehicle. That’s upwards of a 35% jump in price. They’re keen to keep these customers happy and invest further in making the process quicker, more efficient, and streamlined.
Part of their investment is in energy costs. They’re upgrading to electrified paint shops, ultimately going fully electric, as it reduces energy costs and CO2 emissions. They’ve committed to a net zero policy and with significant energy and water savings, they’re well on their way to making this happen.
Their investment in Nitra, Slovakia’s facility will cost twenty-four million GBP and create 120 new jobs alone. The electric paint line will enable a near-limitless color pallet available to prospective owners for their most creative bespoke creations. Full investment will help to support over 17,000 additional customer orders for custom vehicles and allow the customization process to be available across brands that don’t already have it.
Andrea Debbane, Chief Sustainability Officer, said: “JLR is seeing a significant increase in clients wanting to personalise their vehicles, so we are preparing to expand our facilities and offer thousands more paint options across our brands, but doing so in the most sustainable and efficient way possible.
Paint shops are very energy intensive, accounting for around 80% of our operational emissions, so they represent our biggest opportunity. Our long history means we have facilities with different challenges, some are newer, some much older so we need to optimise where we can, whilst at the same time investing for the long-term so we can get where we need to be in ten, fifteen, twenty years’ time to reach our net zero goal.”
Jamal Hameedi, Director SVO, said “SVO is all about offering our clients unparalleled performance, luxury and capability. That includes the most exclusive, high quality colour finishes available. Range Rover clients are increasingly choosing to tailor their vehicles with more exclusive Bespoke and elevated palette paints. By increasing our capacity we can satisfy the demand growth from our Range Rover clients and also expand this service for the first time to clients of our other Brands.”
It looks like if you want a bespoke JLR product shortly, you’re going to have a lot smoother time making that happen. But you better be ready to open your wallet regardless. This is no cheap prospect!
Cheers!
M. T. Blake
