Thousands of Land Rovers are on their way to China because of an investment group purchase.
This is not a joke nor is it suitable for my Marketing Minutia column, this is really big news I’ve been following for a week. Reports from the UK via the Financial Times famous pink sheets and Sindah Today, an Indian news service, confirm a rumor first reported in the Wall Street Journal: The Chinese are on a buying spree in Europe.
I’ve been tracking this down for several days with the companies across Europe, the U.K., China, India and the U.S. via international calls and emails. The facts are amazing.
Lord Mandelson, business secretary of the British government and Chen Deming, the Chinese commercial minister confirmed over the weekend that the Chinese business SCAS Investment Group has signed a memorandum of understanding to buy (gasp!) 3,000 Jaguar and 10,000 Land Rover vehicles from Tata worth £500 million or $700.2 million at the $1.40 exchange rate. This by any count is a helluva lot of Jag’s and Land Rovers! Especially in the U.S. where sales are, despite the Jag’s nice JD Power results, beyond sluggish, with inventory at 380 days or more.
In China, it’s one year’s worth of business. The Financial Times noted China is the fifth largest market for JLR with 13,000 vehicles sold last year. Last year’s business same as this year’s … nice.
Rolls-Royce was rumored to have been on the Chinese shopping list, but as this article is being filed, the only news from the luxury brand’s headquarters in Goodwood,, U.K., was a statement I received from Tom Purves, president and CEO, acknowledging a visit to the company’s headquarters from the Chinese delegations over the weekend.
The automotive purchase is part of a previously announced trip of over 300 Chinese government and business officials to stabilize economic conditions. Hundreds of billions funds in pounds and Euros are available for investment according to release in China Daily from a government spokesperson.
Stay tuned, there will be more to come as soon as it is received.