China Direct

Jaguar Land Rover secures $700 million to support rising sales

CBI member, Jaguar Land Rover, has announced that it has secured 5 billion RMBs’ worth of investment from Chinese banks.

The automobile manufacturer has entered into agreements with lenders in China for an unsecured 3-year term loan facility of £556 million, marking its first debt financing in China.

Arthur Yu, Jaguar Land Rover’s vice president and China chief financial officer, said the Chinese banks that would provide Jaguar Land Rover with the three-year revolving loan include Bank of China, ICBC, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. The loan facility “can help Jaguar Land Rover, China better manage the cash flow amid the coronavirus epidemic”, Yu told reporters at a press conference last Friday.

Jaguar Land Rover, which imports cars and also has a manufacturing partnership in the Chinese eastern city of Changshu, with Wuhu-based Chery Automobile, said its China sales in April were level with the same period last year, and it saw sales growth in May. Sales from China used to account for 25% to 30% of Jaguar Land Rover’s global sales, but over the past two months have made up 50% of the auto manufacturers sales. 

Jaguar Land Rover drives China Sales boost

 

 

CBI member, Jaguar Land Rover has announced that strong sales in China have helped the car manufacturer record a pre-tax profit of £156 million in the three months to 30 September, with revenues up 8% to £6.1 billion.

According to Jaguar Land Rover, sales in China were up by nearly a quarter from this time last year.

This is apparently because of the popularity of new models, such as the Range Rover Evoque, which saw a 50% increase in sales. Jaguar Land Rover chief executive, Sir Ralph Speth said that it was “encouraging to see the pact of [JLR’s] Project Charge transformation and our improvement initiatives in the China market start to come through in our results.”

JLR drives I-Pace brand in China

CBI member, Jaguar Land Rover handed over the keys to the first Jaguar I-Pace sold in China last week, at a launch event held in conjunction with the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition.

JLR launched the car to much fanfare and announced that the I-Pace launch was the start of a new campaign aimed at re-invigorating the JLR brand within the China market.

JLR have taken a two-pronged approach to marketing the I-Pace, and announced a new collaborative project aimed at improving the company’s satellite navigation offerings as well as a new racing series featuring the I-Pace car.

The British car manufacturer will collaborate with the China Tourism Association, the Geographical Society of China, Chinese National Geography and Baidu to launch ‘Land Rover Road Trip Ratings,’ a new satellite navigation system which will be incorporated into JLR vehicles.

JLR hopes that collaboration with these organisations will help it develop enhanced intelligent navigation services for use in its cars sold into the China Market. The system will provide drivers with alternative routes which are practical, scenic and fun to drive. JLR hope that the system will become the market leader in China and enhance the distinctive brand experience and appeal.

The second step the company has taken to enhance its brand and broaden appeal is to launch a new racing series featuring the I-Pace car.

At the same event in Guangzhou, JLR announced the launch of the Asia I-Pace trophy, featuring Chinese race drivers, Wang Tao and Zhang Yaqi.

The Jaguar I-Pace Trophy will be the world’s first championship for mass-produced all-electric cars and will serve as an official supporting race of the Formula E Championship.

JLR plans to use the series as a way of promoting the brand in China, and spectators will be able to see the Jaguar I-Pace Trophy cars in action at the Chinese Sanya Grand Prix and the Hong Kong Grand Prix; both in March 2019.

The series is also sponsored by JLR’s navigation partners, Baidu.

According to JLR’s marketing executive vice president, Paul Hu, “JLR’s taking the lead in cooperation with Formula E proves that the British premium automobile brand owns cutting-edge electrification technologies and forward-looking strategies […] the unfolding of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Championship will be a good chance to popularize the Jaguar I-Pace in China.”

JLR has started to sell the I-Pace in 29 cities across China and plans to roll it out across all 224 dealerships in the country.

 

CBI Sterling Assets Report on China Roadshow

 

  

The inaugural Sterling Assets Report has been on a pan-China Roadshow since its launch on Thursday 02 November in Beijing.

The objective of the Roadshow was to circulate the Report's key findings to the diverse and dynamic UK business network in China and encourage policymakers and local officials to use the Report to promote greater UK-China business investment. 

Additionally the Report was received by business stakeholders the CBBC, British Chambers, Department of International Trade (DIT) and a visiting delegation of the All Party Parliamentary China Group in Guangzhou.

China Direct would like to sincerely thank HM Consuls Cecile Elbeleidi in Chongqing, HM Consul Karen Maddocks in Guangzhou, HM Consul John Edwards in Shanghai and HM Consul Nick Whittingham in Wuhan for their support.

 

    

Please note that China Direct will have the Chinese language version of the Report available for review and download by mid-November.

Kindly find the original Report and Executive Summary attached below for your reference.

Download CBI China Sterling Assets Report

Download Sterling Assets China Executive Summary

Thank you. 

  

Jaguar Land Rover roars ahead in China

 

 

CBI member Jaguar Land Rover has opened its Chinese engine plant as part of its RMB10.9 billion joint venture with Chery Automobile Ltd.

Please read more here.

CBI members triumph at the British Business Awards in Shanghai

 

Last week a number of CBI members with operations in China witnessed fantastic success at the 2016 British Business Awards ceremony. Our congratulations to our companies for their outstanding contribution to UK-China business relations in 2016.

This year we are particularly pleased to announce that four CBI member companies won awards:

Education Institutional Partnership of the year:

• The University of Nottingham (Ningbo)

 

Sustainable Business Award (shared):

• Unilever
• BP

 

British Company of the Year

• Jaguar Land Rover

 

CBI members KPMG, InterContinental Hotel Group, the University of Manchester, and British Airways all sponsored various awards.  

Celebrating CBI Member Success in China - August 2016

Dear CBI Members and partners,

Please find attached below the latest CBI Member Success Summary for August 2016. More than 37 CBI members are referenced covering sectors as diverse as Speedo swimwear to Universities. A full interactive summary document can be found at the bottom of the company list.

• Airbus
• Alstom
• AstraZeneca
• Atkins
• Benoy
• Birmingham City University
• British Airways
• Cardiff University
• Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
• Deloitte
• Ford Motor Company
• HSBC
• Huawei
• Hytera
• InterContinental Hotels Group
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• Lancaster University
• London Stock Exchange Group
• MasterCard
• Middlesex University
• Mott MacDonald
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• Pentland Brands
• PwC
• Rolls-Royce
• Sheffield Hallam University
• Standard Chartered
• Swansea University
• UBS
• University of Birmingham
• University of Leeds
• University of Lincoln
• University of Manchester
• University of Nottingham
• University of Sheffield
• University of Warwick

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, August 2016

Celebrating CBI Member Success in China July 2016

 

 

Dear CBI members and Partners,

Please find attached a selection of more than 30 CBI member companies that have been doing successful business in China in July 2016.

More details can be found below the list.

• Airbus
• Arup
• Atkins
• Benoy
• Burberry
• Cardiff University
• Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
• CMS
• DLA Piper
• Deloitte
• Eversheds
• Grant Thornton
• Heathrow Airport
• HSBC
• Huawei
• Hytera
• ICAP
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• KPMG
• London Stock Exchange Group
• Manchester Airports Group
• Mott MacDonald
• Pinewood Group
• Rolls-Royce
• University of Birmingham
• University of Huddersfield
• University of Leeds
• University of Nottingham
• Vodafone

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, July 2016

Celebrating CBI Member Success in China June 2016

 

 

Please find a summary of our members' successes for June for your reference.  

• British Airways
• British Film Institute
• Deloitte
• DLA Piper
• EY
• Gatwick Airport
• Harvey Nash
• Heathrow Airport
• HSBC
• Huawei
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• London Taxi Company
• Manchester Airports Group
• Mott MacDonald
• Pinsent Masons
• PwC
• Rolls-Royce
• Royal Mail Group
• Simmons & Simmons
• University of Birmingham
• University of Nottingham

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, June 2016

JLR & UK Embassy in Beijing work to support New Hope Foundation

CBI member Jaguar Land Rover kicked off its new employee volunteering scheme by joining forces with the British Embassy in Beijing to upgrade features at the New Hope Foundation, a care clinic that has provided medical treatment and palliative care for orphaned children from across China for 13 years.

More than 30 employees from Jaguar Land Rover’s Beijing office and over 120 Embassy staff joined Richard Shore, Acting Regional President for Jaguar Land Rover in Greater China, and British Ambassador to China Barbara Woodward for a day of hard but inspiring work.

In providing a helping hand and supporting the renovations, Jaguar Land Rover was acting upon its Dream Fund commitment towards helping children enjoy healthier and happier lives.

Please read more here.