- Range Rover wants wealthier customers willing to spend more on exclusive SUVs.
- The brand is targeting deep-pocketed clients eager to commission bespoke vehicles, much like Rolls-Royce.
- Chinese rivals aren't currently taking customers, but Range Rover is watching their growing presence closely.
Range Rover isn't worried about selling fewer SUVs than some of the Chinese brands increasingly borrowing from its design playbook. In fact, the British luxury marque (yes, it's its own brand now) says it isn't chasing outright sales volume. Instead, Range Rover wants something arguably more valuable: wealthier customers willing to spend more money on increasingly exclusive vehicles.
That's the message coming from the brand's global product and services marketing director, Ryan Miller, who told Australian magazine GoAuto that the brand's priority isn't volume. The objective is to go after higher-margin products without making volume the end goal. Essentially, Range Rover is taking a page out of Rolls-Royce's playbook.
'Our job really is not to sell lots and lots of cars. Our job is to grow the brand and develop the value within the brand. You don’t just do that by selling lots and having high turnover, do you?'
Range Rover Wants To Sell One-Offs
It's a revealing statement at a time when Chinese automakers are rapidly expanding into markets traditionally dominated by established European luxury brands. Global managing director Martin Limpert told GoAuto that Range Rover wants to lure in more “ultra-high-net-worth individuals” and sell them “one-to-one bespoke configurations.” Again, this sounds an awful lot like what Rolls-Royce has been doing for years. However, not everything is being pushed further upmarket, as the Evoque is staying in the lineup as the base model.
For now, Chinese SUVs aren't keeping Range Rover awake, as Miller said they aren't eating into its customer base. However, the company is keeping an eye on what the newcomers are doing. And even though some are copying the styling, he is confident that they can't deliver the same level of luxury. People buying Range Rovers want the “best of the best” and are willing to pay the price for something that other automakers cannot deliver at a lower price point.
The Evoque brings Range Rover's design language and badge to a much broader audience, while the larger and fancier models can chase customers with dramatically higher spending power. It's a bit like having one foot in the premium market and the other in ultra-luxury.
Range Rover Electric
Motor1's Take: Chasing volume at all costs would be a curious strategy for Range Rover. The brand seems to have concluded that being harder to afford can actually make it more desirable.
If it can convince customers to spend more while keeping the Evoque around to maintain a broader entry point, Range Rover may not need to beat the Chinese brands at their own game. It simply needs to make sure the people who can afford a Range Rover still want one.
