Thorough SWOT Analysis of Land Rover – A Four-Wheel Drive British Brand

Updated on: Oct 20, 2023
SWOT Analysis of Land Rover - Featured Image

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Previously we discussed the SWOT analysis of Japan’s top-selling luxury car company, Lexus. Today, we will go through the SWOT Analysis of Land Rover in more detail.

Land Rover is the largest British luxury manufacturer of cars, starting in 1885 as Rover Company. Land Rover goes through a lot of processes while providing the strongest luxury SUVs. In 1947, the first Land Rover was designed by Maurice Wilks as the Chief Designer at Rover Company and tested the prototype of the car.

Land Rover has been in the automotive industry for so long because its marketing strategy works very well and all the efforts show improvement in their products. Nowadays, the world uses digital marketing to maintain its business online presence. Interested to learn more about digital marketing, check out our Digital Marketing 101 Free MasterClass By Founder of IIDE and CEO, Karan Shah.

Want to learn how Land Rover is successful until now? We will discover the SWOT Analysis of Land Rover, also learn more about products, competitors, customers and technology.

About Land Rover 

SWOT Analysis of Land Rover - The Founder of Land Rover

Land Rover is a British luxury manufacturer of cars, began as Rover Company in 1885 manufacturing bicycles in Warwickshire, England. After a few ownership changes throughout its existence, Land Rover and Jaguar Car were finally owned by Tata Motors, an Indian giant automotive manufacturer in 2008 and became Jaguar Land Rover Limited in 2013.

Land Rover produces any type of SUVs Car such as Range Rover Family, Electric Plug-In Hybrid, Discover Family, Defender Family, Special Vehicle Operations and Land Rover Classic. Land Rover decided to use life cycle assessment for their future products research and operations with the product developments.

Land Rover is famous for manufacturing unrivalled capabilities cars and advancement of technology that is suitable for adventures everywhere. In 1948, the first Land Rover production was Series I, which originally appeared at the Amsterdam Motor Show and the full production continued in Solihull.

 

Quick Stats on Land Rover
Founder Maurice Wilks
Year Founded 1978
Origin England
No. of Employees 39,787
Company Type Public
Market Cap $ 1.573 Trillion of Tata (2021)
Annual Revenue £ 19.73 Billion (2020)
Net Income/ Profit £ 422 Million (2020)

 

SWOT Analysis of Land Rover - Ratan Tata at Land Rover Auto Expo

 

What’s new with Landrover?

Here’s what was buzzing around Landrover recently:

  • All-new Range Rover: Land Rover has launched its all-new Range Rover, which features a sleek new design, luxurious interior, and advanced technologies.
  • Range Rover Sport: The Range Rover Sport has also received a refresh for 2023, with new styling, updated interior, and more powerful engines.
  • Defender 130: Land Rover has expanded the Defender lineup with the new 130 model, which offers eight seats and more cargo space.
  • Defender 80: Land Rover is also developing a shorter-wheelbase Defender 80 model, which is expected to launch in 2023.
  • Electric Range Rover: Land Rover has announced plans to launch an all-electric Range Rover in 2023.
  • Range Rover Velar: The Range Rover Velar has received a minor update for 2023, with new styling and updated interior features.
  • Discovery: The Discovery has also received a minor update for 2023, with new styling and updated interior features.
  • Discovery Sport: The Discovery Sport has received a more significant update for 2023, with new styling, updated interior, and more efficient engines.
  • Defender V8: Land Rover has launched a new Defender V8 model, which is powered by a 5.0L supercharged V8 engine.
  • Defender Hard Top: Land Rover has launched a new Defender Hard Top model, which features a fixed roof instead of a fabric soft top.
  • Defender Trophy Edition: Land Rover has launched a new Defender Trophy Edition, which is designed for off-road enthusiasts.

Let’s now understand the target audience of Globe Telecom better with the help of a buyer persona.

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Buyer Persona of Land Rover

A buyer persona generally refers to the detailed information of an ideal customer of a company. When it comes to Land Rover, people from India use it the most. This buyer persona will help you understand the attributes of a regular Land Rover user.

 

Buyer’s Persona

Name:

Michael Anderson

Place:

Denver, Colorado

Age:

45 years

Profession:

Environmental Consultant

Motivation

  • Adventure and Exploration
  • Environmental Stewardship
  • Luxury and Comfort
  • Heritage and Tradition

Interest & Hobbies

  • Off-Roading
  • Camping and Outdoor Activities
  • Vintage Car Restoration
  • Wildlife Conservation

Pain Points

  • Maintenance and Repair Costs
  • Fuel Efficiency
  • Limited Urban Maneuverability
  • Environmental Impact

Social Media Presence

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Land Rover Enthusiast Forums
  • LinkedIn

 


SWOT Analysis of Land Rover

SWOT Analysis of Land Rover can show how a well-established company uses its opportunities to ensure its growth. It can show how the company takes advantage of its strengths to use the opportunities while working on its weaknesses. SWOT Analysis of Land Rover will also reveal its expansion plans.

To better understand the SWOT analysis of Land Rover, refer to the infographic below:

SWOT Analysis of Land Rover - SWOT Infographics of Land Rover

Now first let’s begin with the strengths of the company from the SWOT analysis of Land Rover.

Strengths of Land Rover

Strengths indicate how the business performs and what differentiates it from the competitors, such as loyal customers, stable financial, and innovative technology. Here’s have Land Rover’s Strengths:

  • Convenience and Comfort Seat Interior: The seat interior of the Range Rover has provided versatility with comfortable seats, options for four-zone climate control and cabin air Ionisation with nanoe technology enhances the air quality in the car by eliminating allergies, viruses, airborne bacteria, and odours.
  • All-Terrain Innovation and Light Weight: Range Rover has the unrivalled capability of all-terrain with Terrain Response 2, Range Rover can move in seven modes of response as Rock Crawl, Sand, Eco, Dynamic, Grass/Gravel/Snow, Comfort, Mud and Ruts. Terrain Response 2 has a function to adjust the transmission, suspension, and traction settings for maximum drivability in practically any situation.
  • Sustainable Materials: Land Rover aims to use sustainable materials such as leather, natural rubber, wood, and cotton. They are still researching new types of natural fibres to reduce car weight and vehicle components.
  • Land Rover Classic: Land Rover is committed to maintaining and repairing its automotive legacy for future generations. Land Rover Classic also has genuine parts for worldwide Land Rover owners. Bringing history to life by carefully repairing limited edition classic Land Rovers and the famous Land Rover Series I and original Range Rovers two-door.


Weaknesses of Land Rover

Weaknesses prevent the organisation from operating the same way for so long and help them improve their performance. These are the weaknesses of Land Rover:

  • Reliability Issue: Land Rover Discovery 3 & 4 models have a reliability issue for Air suspension problems, dreaded crank-shaft seizures and electronic park brake failures. Jaguar Land Rover has a priority to fix the issues about reliability and quality using the Reimagine Plan.
  • Compete with Other SUVs Brands: Land Rover has competition with other brands that have similar specifications, engine, technology, design, materials quality, different prices, exterior and interior features of the SUVs such as Audi, Volvo and BMW.
  • High-cost Maintenance to Fix: Land Rover is the top 10 most expensive cars to maintain and the maintenance cost will be after 5 to 6 years of the production year. The maintenance costs for the average Range Rover is from $600 to over $4,000.
  • The Dissatisfaction of Customers: Land Rover has a negative impact from the dissatisfaction of the customer and they are losing huge opportunities to get more sales. If Land Rover doesn’t have issues with the dissatisfaction of the customers, they might get more than 100,000 healthy sales.


Opportunities for Land Rover

Opportunities are external situations that might provide a business with a competitive benefit such as new market, gain market share and sales.

  • Expanding to the Global Market: Jaguar Land Rover opened a new factory in Itatiaia, Brazil and has had a presence for 25 years in the Brazilian Market. It’s a part of Jaguar Land Rover global development strategy and increases its global existence. Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport, Land Rover is the market leader for the midsize premium SUV sector in Brazil that accounted for 30% of sales.
  • Improve Car Quality: Land Rover can improve the car quality by putting more investment into manufacturing and product development. Land Rover is in the process of making some improvements for better quality using design. JLR’s vehicle design process, which included renovating and standardising technology, as well as upgrading the design of components and integration.
  • Technology Advancement: With advanced technology and innovation, Land Rover can have the potential to compete with another brand. Land Rover plans to develop future lightweight automobiles using aerospace technologies and test them across North America with over 400,000km.
  • Online Fans: Land Rover has a lot of fans that post and share about the Land Rover car on the website drivetribe.com and the Facebook group Malaysian Land Rover community and Range Rover fans.


Threats of Land Rover

Threats are circumstances that will have the potential to be dangerous to an organisation. These are threats of Land Rover:

  • Covid-19 Uncertainties: Jaguar Land Rover reduces 2,000 people in their global workforce and faces uncertainty from the Covid-19. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sold 425,974 automobiles worldwide in 2020, a 23.6% decrease from the previous year.
  • Intense Competition: Land Rover has intense competition with BMW, Mercedes and other brands that offer large SUVs with advanced hybrid technology and strong materials. The intense competition of Land Rover with other brands is also based on the size of the SUVs and the reputation of the company.
  • Bad Customer Buying Experience: Customers who buy Land Rover cars have a bad customer service experience. Customers don’t get any response from the customer service department after sending emails and phone calls. Customers also face a lot of problems with their cars after the warranty ends. 
  • Competitors’ New Technology: Almost every year, new technology for the automotive industry comes out and Land Rover should be ready to launch new technology in their future car. Recently, Jaguar Land Rover plans to use sustainable materials for seat leather in its products and it’s good for the environment. By 2039, Jaguar Land Rover wants to achieve net-zero carbon neutrality across its operations, vehicles, and whole supply chain.

 

Failed Campaigns of Land Rover

Land Rover more than often grabs attention with its unique marketing. But, there have been a few times when the campaign failed to connect with the audiences and gained backlash. 

Here are a few examples of failed campaigns of Land Rover:

  • The “Defender 2020” launch campaign: In 2019, Land Rover launched a campaign to promote the all-new Defender 2020. The campaign featured videos and images of the Defender being driven in extreme conditions, such as through mud, snow, and rocks. However, the campaign was met with a lot of criticism from environmental groups, who argued that it was promoting irresponsible driving and damaging the environment.
  • The “Range Rover Sport SVR” launch campaign: In 2018, Land Rover launched a campaign to promote the Range Rover Sport SVR, which is the high-performance version of the Range Rover Sport. The campaign featured a video of the Range Rover Sport SVR driving through a forest at high speed. However, the campaign was met with a lot of criticism from road safety groups, who argued that it was promoting dangerous driving.
  • The “Discovery Sport” launch campaign: In 2015, Land Rover launched a campaign to promote the Discovery Sport, which is a seven-seater SUV. The campaign featured a video of the Discovery Sport being driven through a city with a family of seven on board. However, the campaign was met with a lot of criticism from consumers, who argued that the Discovery Sport was not big enough to comfortably seat seven people.
  • The “Defender” launch campaign: In 2019, Land Rover launched a campaign to promote the all-new Defender. The campaign featured videos and images of the Defender being driven in extreme conditions, such as through mud, snow, and rocks. However, the campaign was met with a lot of criticism from fans of the classic Defender, who argued that the new Defender was not as rugged or capable as the original.
  • The “Range Rover Evoque” launch campaign: In 2011, Land Rover launched a campaign to promote the Range Rover Evoque, which is a compact SUV. The campaign featured a video of the Range Rover Evoque being driven through a city. However, the campaign was met with a lot of criticism from consumers, who argued that the Range Rover Evoque was too expensive and that it was not practical for everyday driving.

 

Competitors of Land Rover

Land Rover competes with many automotive luxury and SUVs manufacturers. These are the close competitors of Land Rover:

  • Mercedes AMG
  • Volvo Cars
  • Aston Martin
  • AUDI INDIA
  • Maserati USA


We already discovered the company, let’s check on the SWOT Analysis of Land Rover. 

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Conclusion

As we wrap up our analysis of Land Rover’s impressive digital marketing strategy, it’s clear that staying up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques is key to success in the digital marketing world.

Whether you’re a marketing professional or just starting out, be sure to check out our free digital marketing masterclass to gain a solid foundation in the essentials of digital marketing.

Who knows, you might just develop the next big marketing strategy like Land Rover’s! Don’t forget to share your thoughts and comments on Land Rover’s strategy in the comments below.

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Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs......[Read full bio]

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