[EXCLUSIVE] Land Rover boutique showroom to open in Hanam this year

Industry

Published: 27 Oct. 2023, 06:00 Updated: 05 Apr. 2024, 17:34

[EXCLUSIVE] Land Rover boutique showroom to open in Hanam this year

JLR's boutique showroom in Mayfair, London. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Jaguar Land Rover, or JLR as it is now known, is slated to open Korea's first Land Rover boutique showroom in Starfield Malls in Hanam, Gyeonggi, within the year.

"The opening seeks to follow the latest trend of luxury brands opening showrooms that not only display cars on sale but also offer customers a type of exhibition where they can experience the value of the brand," said an industry source with knowledge of the matter.

"It aims to target the taste of younger customers as the popularity of imported brands is growing among youths typically in Korea."

Robin Colgan, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Korea, poses with the latest Range Rover Sport SUV. [JAGUAR LAND ROVER KOREA]

The showroom, which will be the first of its kind in Korea, also comes as the British carmaker focuses more on the Land Rover brand in Korea while Jaguar halted its sales in Korea until 2025.

Jaguar recently closed all dealerships in Korea amid plunging sales. A total of 4,125 Jaguar cars were sold in 2017, but that dropped to 163 last year. Only four Jaguar cars were sold this year through to the end of April.

Jaguar said it is set to make a comeback in the Korean market in 2025 as an EV-dedicated brand.

In the absence of Jaguar, sales of Land Rover cars are skyrocketing this year.

A total of 4,093 Land Rover vehicles were sold this year through September, nearly double from last year, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association. Around 2,060 units were sold last year.

Range Rover SUVs led the growth, with the sales making up 71 percent of the brand's total sales in the domestic market. JLR launched its first fully revamped Range Rover SUV in nine years in August last year, and a new Range Rover Sport SUV in November after a decade since the last redo.

JLR runs similar showrooms in various locations including London and Shanghai.

"The showroom will have a sense of Korean traditional sentiment such as a folding screen," the source added.

This type of showroom is the luxury imported brands' latest business strategy targeting Korean customers.

Bentley Motors in March opened a Bentley Cube showroom in Gangnam, which exhibits the latest Bentley cars and also offers various services exclusively for Bentley owners in Korea, such as a lounge that they can rent to open a private party or programs to customize their own Bentleys.

Mercedes-Benz is set to open its first-ever Maybach brand center in Gangnam next year.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]