Lauded as the “most beautiful Land Rover,” the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque L once sparked a buying frenzy in the industry, but as time went on, this model experienced a transformation from a phoenix’s rebirth to an awkward exit. In its decade-plus in the Chinese market, the Range Rover Evoque L not only witnessed the ups and downs of the Land Rover brand but also reflected the changing veins of the entire car market.
In the lightly drifting words lies a deep irony, “A man cannot possess both a Land Rover and an inferiority complex, unless you’re driving the Chery Jaguar Land Rover Range Rover Evoque L,” this industry joke highlights the predicament faced by the Range Rover Evoque L.
By March 2024, rumors of significant discounts on the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque L began to spread widely on social platforms, with headlines like “Land Rover Evoque L Price Reduced by Nearly 200,000” and “Get a Land Rover Evoque L for just over 200,000” catching the eyes of many potential buyers.
According to a car owner from Sichuan, he secured a model officially priced at 429,800 yuan through a loan installment plan. After discounts, the bare car price was only 238,000 yuan, and the final on-the-road price was about 275,000 yuan, nearly half the original price.
Another car owner from Jiangsu shared his buying experience: he bought the luxury version, with a guided price of 425,000 yuan. The final bare car price was less than 230,000 yuan, with a total on-the-road price of 268,000 yuan. He was very satisfied with such a discount.
This price reduction happened because, as revealed by Lin Kai, a salesperson at a Beijing Land Rover dealership, they needed to clear the inventory of the 2023 models to make way for the 2024 ones. “Our store needed to clear more than 60% of the 2023 models in stock by March and completely sell out the old inventory before the new models arrived in April.” Sales staff, in order to boost sales, even resorted to near-cost-price promotional strategies to attract customers—the elite version at 389,800 yuan had an on-the-road price of 248,000 yuan; the luxury version at 425,000 yuan had a price of 265,000 yuan on-the-road.
With so many discounts, the dealership’s stock quickly sold out. In Lin Kai’s store, the 2023 Range Rover Evoque L vehicles were sold out by mid-April. Other Land Rover dealerships in the Beijing area also reported that the 2023 models were out of stock.
As for the 2024 models, although their initial list prices are theoretically stable, the reality is somewhat unexpected. The new Range Rover Evoque L, showcased at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, has added many features, but its price range is from 392,800 to 475,800 yuan—an almost across-the-board price increase from the 2023 models.
Lin Kai noted that even for the price-increased 2024 models, under a loan installment plan, the discounted bare car price of the 429,800 yuan-guided-price Radiance Honor Edition would still be around 250,000 yuan, showing the brand’s strategy in response to market competition pressures.
For consumers who want to buy a new car, understanding the diversity of financial plans is important. Car loans usually cover 80% of the car’s price, with the opportunity to pay off the loan early within one year if conditions are met. Although this may incur more than 9,000 yuan in interest, a loan purchase is actually more economical than an outright purchase, potentially saving more than 10,000 yuan in costs.
Considering the annual interest, acquisition tax, and the cost of insurance, the final on-the-road price for a mid-level 2024 model is roughly around 300,000 yuan. On the surface, the price of the new models doesn’t seem as appealing as the old model’s clearance price, but after comprehensive calculations, the actual cost of the new vehicle also reveals significant discounts.
Before the official price announcement of the new car, the 2024 Range Rover Evoque L has successively arrived at dealerships everywhere. Some salespersons predict that with installment purchases, the bare car price could receive a discount of 60% off the official guide price. Meanwhile, as the old models are heavily discounted for promotions, the price of the new vehicle did not stand firm, which left some buyers of early models feeling a bit of regret.
From a value perspective, as compared to the expensive mid-to-large SUV Range Rover, the Evoque, as a compact SUV under the Jaguar Land Rover brand, has won a high reputation since its debut in 2010 for its avant-garde design and market performance, earning numerous media awards and being hailed as “the most beautiful Range Rover” by many domestic and international celebrities and stars.
Looking back at history, in April 2011, the first generation Range Rover Evoque was imported as a complete vehicle and began sales in China, with the official guide price of the five-door model being 628,000 yuan, while the three-door Coupe model was priced at 638,000 yuan. Due to strong market demand at the time, consumers even had to pay extra to purchase the vehicle. However, since localization, the price of the Range Rover Evoque gradually decreased, competing with vehicles of the same class such as BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC, and Audi Q5.
In November 2012, Chery Automobile and British Jaguar Land Rover Automotive jointly invested to establish “Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co., Ltd.” The domestic version of the Range Rover Evoque was officially launched in February 2015. As time progressed, the new generation of Range Rover Evoque continued to be introduced, and in July 2019, the second generation of the domestic version was launched, and finally in June 2021, Chery Jaguar Land Rover launched the domestic long-wheelbase version of the second-generation Range Rover Evoque, renamed “Range Rover Evoque L,” which is now a preferred product on the market.
Overall, the Range Rover Evoque L represents the vehicle with the longest name on the Chinese car market. It not only has a long history of development but also continues to self-renew with the advancement of the times, dedicated to providing consumers with a more satisfying driving experience.
Despite the jokes among many netizens that the Range Rover Evoque L has “maxed out buffs,” it seems this has not brought an increase in attack or defense power on the Chinese market. This model, which was dazzling from the moment it appeared, currently has a price that makes early buyers of the imported version reflect, comforting themselves with the thought, “Buy early, enjoy early.” However, despite the high starting price, the sales volume of the domestically produced Range Rover Evoque L has not soared as expected, but instead shows a gradual downward trend.
Industry analysts point out that the Range Rover Evoque L has no significant advantages over its competitors in terms of driving quality, space, fuel consumption, and power. Coupled with the gradually declining reputation and reliability of the brand overall in China, this once “noble” model has also encountered a general market downturn.
The 2024 model Land Rover Range Rover Evoque L has not led to a substantial increase in sales compared to the older model, evidently due to the pressure of market sales. According to data from the Yiche App, in 2023, the total sales of the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque L were 14,576 units, with an average monthly sale of over 1,200 units. Although most months saw sales of over 1,000 units, which was quite stable overall, from July 2023, the sales trend began to decline slightly.
In response, Chery Jaguar Land Rover quickly adopted a price reduction strategy to stabilize the market, achieving sales of 1,320 units, 1,239 units, and 1,357 units respectively from November 2023 to January 2024. By March 2024, the sales rose further to 1,521 units, marking a new monthly high since September 2022. However, the price reduction strategy leads to contemplation: Compared to other luxury midsize SUVs like Mercedes-Benz GLC, BMW X3, and Audi Q5L, which saw sales exceeding 10,000 units, the market presence of the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque L is significantly weak.
Since its launch, its highest monthly sales record has never surpassed 1,600 units, mostly hovering around 1,000 units, and there is a distinct gap when compared to the Volvo XC60, Cadillac XT5, Lincoln Navigator, and others. Against the backdrop of a surge in new energy vehicles in the Chinese automotive market, even though the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque L has introduced a PHEV plug-in hybrid model, its average monthly sales are still less than 100 units.
Despite facing market pressures, Chery Jaguar Land Rover continues to maintain sales by offering greater discounts. However, in the fierce price competition of the auto industry, how long can such a “volume-for-price” strategy last? The long-standing tradition of discounts for domestic Land Rover and Jaguar—”30% off for Land Rover, 40% off for Jaguar”—seems set to continue decreasing. Currently, Jaguar Land Rover and Chery Jaguar Land Rover are focusing their efforts on the research and development of new energy transformation technology and market development. During this critical period, the industry is keenly interested in how Jaguar Land Rover will achieve a breakthrough in the Chinese market.
At present, joint ventures urgently need to enhance product strength and accelerate the market launch of new models that keep up with the times. As early as 2021, Jaguar Land Rover unveiled its “Reimagine” strategy plan, aimed at accelerating the company’s shift towards electrification. In detail, the Jaguar brand will not introduce any new models within the next five years, instead focusing entirely on becoming a super-luxury electric car brand, intending to position itself alongside top luxury car brands such as Bentley, Aston Martin, and Porsche. At the same time, the Land Rover brand will continue to launch new models, mainly focused on high-end models priced over one million such as the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender.
In terms of the “Range Rover Evoque L” and “Discovery Sport,” the two entry-level models manufactured by the joint venture companies in China, their renewal and electrification timelines remain unclear. In the short term, it seems that maintaining sales can only be achieved through price reductions. By April 2023, Jaguar Land Rover launched a new strategy called “Brand Reimagination,” redefining the Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar as a family of brands with distinct market positions and stylistic characteristics, with the aim of more clearly distinguishing between high- and low-end product lines to enhance the added value and premium potential of high-end models.
These two strategies effectively enhanced the ultra-luxurious positioning of the Land Rover’s premium models and led to gratifying market performance. According to data released by Jaguar Land Rover, in the entire Chinese market for 2023, the cumulative annual sales of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport surpassed 25,000 units, with a year-on-year growth of 31%; the Defender’s annual sales approached 20,000 units, soaring by 59% compared to the previous year. These three models undoubtedly became strong “harvesters” in the global market. Sales data from the official Jaguar Land Rover website in the UK showed that from October to December 2023, the global sales of the aforementioned three models increased by 10.7%, 96.0%, and 45.2% year-on-year, respectively, accounting for as much as 55.7% of the total sales of Jaguar Land Rover. In the first quarter of 2024 (January to March), the Range Rover Sport and Defender saw global sales growth of 49.1% and 18.1% year-on-year, respectively, and even though the sales of the Range Rover slightly decreased by 4.0%, the total sales proportion of these three vehicles still maintained at 55%.
The hot sales of high-end models continued to drive revenue growth. Jaguar Land Rover’s global revenue reached 7.4 billion pounds (approximately 67.175 billion yuan) in the third quarter of the 2024 fiscal year (October to December 2023), a year-on-year increase of 22% and an 8% increase over the previous quarter. In the first three quarters of the 2024 fiscal year (April to December 2023), the company’s total revenue reached 21.1 billion pounds (approximately 191.538 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 35%, setting a new historical record. The company’s pretax profit was 627 million pounds (approximately 56.92 billion yuan), markedly surpassing the 265 million pounds (approximately 24.06 billion yuan) from the same period of the previous fiscal year, setting a new historical high, with a profit margin before interest and taxes reaching 7.3%, also significantly exceeding the 3.7% from the same period of the previous fiscal year. The free cash flow was 626 million pounds (approximately 56.83 billion yuan).
The new Range Rover Sport SV EDITION ONE limited edition debuted in the Chinese market in April 2024 as a completely built import, continuing to write a new chapter for the brand.
Recently, a highly attractive luxury automobile hit the market stage with an astonishing listed price of 24.38 million yuan. Moreover, in the mainland region, this model is limited to only 15 units, undoubtedly making it a rare item for the wealthy. The launch of this vehicle once again confirms its manufacturer’s extraordinary position in the high-end automotive market.
In another exciting development, the official Jaguar Land Rover has announced that the brand will display its all-new all-electric Range Rover as well as the first model of the new Jaguar electric series. Both are scheduled to make their public debut in 2024, marking a crucial step forward for the brand on the path to an energy transition.
However, for the joint venture company, it is still a question filled with uncertainty whether Jaguar Land Rover’s future high-end new energy models can transfer advanced technologies to locally produced entry-level models including the Range Rover Evoque L, helping them to break away from sluggish sales. At that time, whether these car models can become new favorites in the market remains to be seen.