Jaguar Land Rover has rebranded to JLR and announced a new corporate identity.
Let’s look at the reasons for the rebrand, with a little bit of history.
- Ford acquired Jaguar Cars in 1989 and then Land Rover from BMW in 2000.
- The Tata Group acquired Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford in 2008, by setting up a British company called Jaguar Land Rover
In effect, Jaguar Land Rover is a House of Brands that includes iconic auto brands like Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar. (In addition to the Jaguar and Land Rover marques, JLR also owns the rights to the dormant Daimler, Lanchester and Rover marques.)
The corporate entity has been rebranded from Jaguar Land Rover to JLR, to make it distinct from product brands – and perhaps allow for more brands to be brought into its portfolio.
The new JLR logo will not appear on vehicles and will only be used for corporate interfaces like the website. The iconic Land Rover oval will continue to be seen on the Rover, Defender and Discovery. However, Jaguar will move to becoming an electric-only luxury auto brand and it remains to be seen if this will prompt a redesign of its logo.
The Larger Strategy
While the usual logo gladiator games are underway, (the incomplete R letterform has led to comparisons with Nokia), we understand the need for the rebrand.
This is the reason that Facebook created Meta and Google created Alphabet. In the automotive world, a parallel would be Stellantis – which does not appear on Vauxhall, Peugeot or Citroen cars.
The rebrand is also part of a larger strategy, called Reimagine, which among other goals, said the company would become carbon-neutral by 2029.
If you are thinking about your corporate vs product brands, we gave you a decision framework for here.
