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JAGUAR Land Rover 160 dealers are investing between £1m and £20m each in the new premium ARCH sites with a globally consistent design – a total investment of more than £1bn.

JLR UK managing director Rawdon Glover said this will be the quickest implementation of a new corporate identity, and the most significant expansion of capacity that any brand has ever undertaken.

Around 70% of the new sites will be dual-brand by 2021, up from 33% currently with 51 UK retailers completed with the new design, including sites in Watford, Leeds and Inverness.

A further 21 are in the process of being built, of which eight will be completed by the end of 2018.

Glover said: “The whole network will have adopted the design by the end of 2021. The sites are welcoming, modern and engaging, with 86% set to have Jaguar and Land Rover under one roof although there are areas where it makes sense to remain solely a Jaguar or Land Rover retailer.”

The evolution of the network is not set around one particular format, ranging from authorised repairers, boutique outlets up to flagship dealerships around major cities. Glover said that a “statement” site is currently under construction in Sunbury, South West London with partner Synter Group.

Moving forward, Glover said JLR is looking to maximise opportunities for its dealers in digitisation. “While consumers want to do their research and configure their vehicles online, they still want a number of touch points at the retailer and we want to make that journey as seamless as possible.

“Customers do not want to configure their car online then have to go through the whole process again at the dealership. We have updated our website so that people can work out the specifications they need and get quotes for finance and part-exchange.

“The site will even advise the customer if there is a similar model in stock. This can then be downloaded at the retailer.

“We are also getting customers to sign up to our connectivity plans. The aim is to be able to download data from the vehicles and to send out software updates. We are currently running trials with this. Ultimately it will allow retailers to be pro-active rather than the reactive way they have run their business.”

Glover is also encouraging dealers to think more about servicing older JLR vehicles which have gone out of warranty. He added: “Aftersales and service is a big profit centre for retailers and by taking in older vehicles we are helping to retain customers, utilise workshop capacity and make cost efficiencies.”

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