Volkswagen's diesel scandal won't impact the plans of Janguar Land Rover, which expects to have diesel options for all models by 2017.
Jaguar Land Rover, which is eager to grow, is moving forward with its plans to introduce more vehicles with diesel engines in the U.S. despite the scandal that has surrounded Volkswagen AG since it was found to have used special software to defeat emission tests for diesel-powered cars.
“We’re not going to change our strategy,” Jaguar Land Rover North America President Joe Eberhardt said after speech to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit. “You have to deal with the situation as it arises.”
Eberhardt, noted that even before Volkswagen was discovered to have cheated on tests required by the U.S. Clean Air Act, diesel fuel was more expensive than gasoline so there was always at least one downside to diesel.
(Jaguar crosses over with new F-Pace. For more, Click Here.)
“It’s way too early to say” that sales of diesel-powered vehicle will suffer because of the Volkswagen emission test difficulties. “I can’t speculate,” he said.
Eberhardt noted that diesel engines are critical to Jaguar Land Rover’s ongoing effort to meet future fuel economy standards in the U.S. Every Jaguar Land Rover vehicle sold U.S., with the exception of the sporty F-Type, will have a diesel-powered variant by the end of 2017.
(The new F-Pace is just part of a “fundamental transformation for Jaguar. Click Here for more.)
JLR launched the first two models, the 2016 Range Rover and 2016 Range Rover Discovery, two weeks ago just as Volkswagen’s woes were becoming public, said Stuart Schorr, Jaguar Land Rover vice president of communication. So far, the sales of the first diesel-powered vehicles JLR have been right on the target of 15%, he said.
“We literally got the certification the day the Volkswagen story broke. We’re not declaring (victory). I’m just giving you the facts,” said Schorr, adding both engines it plans to sell in the U.S. have been modified to meet the U.S. standards.
(Click Here for a review of the new Range Rover Sport Td6.)
Eberhardt said Jaguar Land Rover is having a good year and expects to sell more than 500,000 vehicles worldwide. “We want to grow,” he said of Jaguar Land Rover’s future plans. Since its acquisition by India’s Tata Motors in 2008, it has been able to finance the expansion of its product line and the plants need to boost production levels.
This is good news. And with JLR having the certification and not bragging about it or kicking VW, they will continue to hit their 15% target.
Also, I feel in time VW Group will get over this emissions hurdle / scandal just as they did in March 1974 when the EPA broke the news they cheated with EGR.
Any current or potential diesel owner that has done their research isn’t going to be deterred from buying a diesel just because VW compromised their emissions software. There are very good reasons why most of the world extensively use diesel power. If not for low gasoline prices in the U.S., we would have started using a high percentage of diesels 50+ years ago.