Photo: Land Rover
In addition to Mopar classics and the 250 series from the Prancing Horse of Maranello, the first generation of the Jaguar E-Type helped chisel my passion for all things on four wheels. But even during the days of the XKE, the Leaping Cat of Coventry had a questionable record for reliability.
Founded in 1968, then partly nationalized in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, the car-making colossus known as British Leyland made things worse for both Jaguar and Land Rover. Not even BMW or Ford could make things better from the standpoint of reliability, and the same can be said about the Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Group.
After none other than chief executive officer Thierry Bollore told investors that quality and reliability cost Jaguar Land Rover over 100,000 sales per year, the French businessman finally took matters into his own hands. Under the Reimagine turnaround plan, the head honcho told Autocar that JLR's reliability and quality problems would be resolved once and for all.
“Our results have been unacceptable, but we know how to fix them. It’s not science, just hard work,” said Bollore, which begs a pretty simple question. Why didn’t Jaguar Land Rover address these glaring issues since June 2008 when Tata purchased JLR from the Ford Motor Company for £1.7 billion?
I wish I knew the answer, but Thierry’s words aren’t just wishful thinking. Merely a month after joining the British automaker, Bollore appointed Nigel Blenkinsop to executive director of quality and customer satisfaction. And under the watchful eye of Blenkinsop, warranty costs from 2021-model-year cars and SUVs have dropped by one-third thus far.
JLR also doubles down by introducing more technology aimed at improving the quality of components and how they integrate into the vehicle at the beginning of the development process. Considering that Jaguar is going electric in 2025 and Land Rover will debut an electric utility vehicle in 2024, it’s safe to assume that reliability and quality will continue to improve.
After none other than chief executive officer Thierry Bollore told investors that quality and reliability cost Jaguar Land Rover over 100,000 sales per year, the French businessman finally took matters into his own hands. Under the Reimagine turnaround plan, the head honcho told Autocar that JLR's reliability and quality problems would be resolved once and for all.
“Our results have been unacceptable, but we know how to fix them. It’s not science, just hard work,” said Bollore, which begs a pretty simple question. Why didn’t Jaguar Land Rover address these glaring issues since June 2008 when Tata purchased JLR from the Ford Motor Company for £1.7 billion?
I wish I knew the answer, but Thierry’s words aren’t just wishful thinking. Merely a month after joining the British automaker, Bollore appointed Nigel Blenkinsop to executive director of quality and customer satisfaction. And under the watchful eye of Blenkinsop, warranty costs from 2021-model-year cars and SUVs have dropped by one-third thus far.
JLR also doubles down by introducing more technology aimed at improving the quality of components and how they integrate into the vehicle at the beginning of the development process. Considering that Jaguar is going electric in 2025 and Land Rover will debut an electric utility vehicle in 2024, it’s safe to assume that reliability and quality will continue to improve.
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