Roving Ahead

An in-depth chat with Robin Colgan, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Asia Pacific, about the past, the present and the future, along with the opportunities and challenges for the iconic British SUV manufacturer.

- Daryl Lee

The luxury SUV is ubiquitous in 2020. Every premium carmaker worth its salt has at least one in its line-up and the vehicle type is by far the dominant sales force driving the car industry forward.

Even traditional sports car manufacturers such as Lamborghini and Porsche have an SUV in their portfolio, and they’ve proved hugely profitable to bottom lines, with said models contributing to around 50 per ent or more of their annual vehicle sales.

But all this might seem like old news to Land Rover because it’s been building luxury SUVs for half a century now. The original Range Rover made its debut in 1970, and in the course of its long life – stretching from then until 1994 – it defined the segment before there even was a segment to speak of.

The first-generation Range Rover spent its life pretty much unchallenged, though of course, these days the legendary model is far from the only game in town. But in spite of the increased competition, Robin Colgan, managing director of the British carmaker’s Asia Pacific operations, isn’t too bothered. In fact, the increased competition is something Colgan welcomes.

“It doesn’t have a negative impact on our sales and the answer is, no it never has. The growth in the premium SUV segment has been exponential for the longest time… and there is still significant growth to come,” he says.

His reasoning is, to summarise and use the well-worn aphorism, ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’.