JLR India hopeful of festive cheer, goes for product offensive

New Delhi (IANS) After witnessing a gradual recovery in sales, Jaguar Land Rover India is hopeful yet guarded about the festive season response.

In a conversation with IANS, the company's President and MD Rohit Suri said that a gradual recovery was triggered in Q2FY21.

"The pandemic presented everyone with some unprecedented challenges," Suri said.

"While the first quarter of this financial year was particularly challenging, there has been a gradual recovery in Q2 for the sector at large and for us, as well. We are cautiously optimistic about this recovery and hope this carries into the festive season and beyond."

Apart from the "cautiously optimistic" stand, the company has gone on a product offensive with the launch of Defender SUV.

So far, under the Land Rover brand the company had the Discovery product range and Range Rover product pillar available in India.

"This (launch), in many ways, completes the Land Rover brand story and we are very excited about expanding the reach and appeal of Land Rover amongst our customer base," he said.

Additionally, the company has set its sight to capture another segment via soon to be introduced Jaguar I-PACE.

"We will continue to consolidate our brand position in the market by bringing in more exciting products that will include 'Plug-in hybrids' and mild hybrids," he said.

"Further, our retailer network is undergoing a major makeover to offer a more personalised and digitised experience to our customers."

At present, the pandemic has heavily dented the nearly all classes of passenger vehicle segment.

Some reports estimate near 40 per cent decline in the luxury automobile segment during FY21.