By IANS,
London : The head of Jaguar Land Rover says the Tata-owned luxury brands have a “brilliant future” but that they must outsell “bland” foreign cars first.
“We do need to up our game as the competition gets tougher every year. If I needed confirmation of this, I got it when I looked at the cars on the street here this morning,” JLR Chief Executive David Smith said.
“I take it as a personal insult but also as a challenge that there are so many bland Japanese and German products outside. So we still have work to do and a great opportunity to win new business,” he told a conference of business leaders from Britain’s West Midlands region, where JLR are headquartered.
Smith exuded optimism about the future of JLR, saying the acquisition by Tata Motors in June were of “huge significance” to the brands and added: “Armageddon can wait.”
“I have not lost one iota of belief in the brilliant future of Jaguar Land Rover or the West Midlands,” Smith said.
“We need to be realistic about the next 18 months. They will be very tough, and painful. No business, and certainly not one like ours, will be able to isolate itself from the world economic climate.
“Industry desperately needed the interest rate cut we saw and which we have all been calling for. I hope – and expect – there are more to come. So times are very challenging but as far as I am concerned, Armageddon can wait.”