Jaguar Land Rover Wants Economic Stability

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

From William Yaw Owusu, Johannesburg
Courtesy PHC Motors

Tuesday October 11, 2011.
Roland Reid, Marketing Manager of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) South Africa has stated that the absence of economic and socio-political stability in Africa is hampering the needed investments towards accelerated development of the continent.

“I am disappointed most African countries do not have assembling plants for cars. We have the technology, skills and the people and a lot of the natural resources that goes into a vehicle come from our continent but the weak economic and socio-political stability is denying us our fair share of investments.”

Mr. Reid expressed the concern at the International Motor Show held in Johannesburg South Africa last week where JLR was one of the leading automobile manufacturers that made strong impression about the future of automobile industry.

On display were several of JLRs iconic brands including the exquisite Land Rover Evoque as well as the elegant Jaguar XJ, XF, XKR, C-X 16 models.

Mr. Reid said over the years investments on the continent have not been attractive because Africa has been an unstable continent, adding “but you need economic and socio-political stability to attract investment and that will definitely lead to the creation of more jobs.”

“Currently investment monies appear to be going to countries where there is far more stability so it is key for the economic drivers for Africa to ensure economic and socio-political stability so that investors are attracted to us. They wish to be here but nobody would want to invest in a volatile economic and political environment.”

“It is important that Africa understands stable economy in every country to attract investors to put up manufacturing plants that they will get returns from. If there is stability the long term investment are going to come and the pressure on the governments to provide jobs will reduce.”

Mr. Reid said Africa has been one of the greatest markets for Land Rover brands while Jaguar is also coming, adding “we have been resurging as we strive to extend our footprints to Africa.”
“Africa has been traditionally a strong market for Land Rover for many years. The Defender has proven itself to be very capable vehicle in the harsh weather conditions. In the last couple of years there have been more luxurious Land Rovers finding their niche up and down the continent.”

He said JLR wants to ensure that their vehicles become more recyclable to reduce the carbon footprints to be able to make less impact on the environment, adding “we are very conscious about it and are working hard to get the best for everybody. We are improving on our designs so we have less impact.”

“With the expanding sales, our dealers on the continent are also creating jobs to help reduce the unemployment rate. With the expanding dealer network more people are getting jobs which were non-existent some years back in the various markets.”

“The future is brighter for us and over the coming years consumers are going to see more designs of our products on the market.”

He said JLR is not compromising on global standards for safety and added that “the clamour for specification is driven by the need for climate change and use of more light weight and more recyclable materials.”