EV sales help Jaguar to new record

Jaguar’s New Zealand sales have reached record heights, accounting for a significant amount of the premium EVs sold here last month.

The number of registrations for the new Jaguar I-Pace SUV are higher than any Jaguar models sold locally in a single month, Jaguar NZ general manager Steve Kenchington says.

“Jaguar’s sales over the past month were 63% higher than our previous record, set just over a year and a half ago.

“In that time, the brand has continued to grow with a 34% lift in sales last year which has culminated in this latest record of new vehicles sold in a single month,” he says.

“This is a particularly strong result against the backdrop of a highly competitive premium vehicle segment.”

Kenchington says the brand’s recent entry into the performance SUV and EV categories has helped introduce a new generation to the technology unpinning its vehicles and made Jaguar relevant and accessible to a new breed of customer.

“With the development of the premium electric vehicle market in New Zealand, we have seen significant interest from corporate customers wanting to understand whether an EV was right for their lifestyle.

“It is a completely new category with a unique set of rules but with the I-Pace winning World, European, German and UK Car of the Year awards within such a short space of time, it has provided reassurance that this new EV technology can be readily adopted by consumers, and with a WLTP range of 470km it really takes away the question of range anxiety.”

Andy Eakin, the country’s first I-Pace owner, says he had been following the development of several new EVs ahead of his purchase decision.

“At one stage I even had a deposit on two other brands of EV which I had refunded after the release of the I-Pace.

“I had high expectations of the new model before I took delivery but having driven it for a few weeks now, it really is a phenomenal drive – completely different from anything else I’ve had before, it has exceeded my expectations.”

Eakin says being the first New Zealand owner of the new model has also attracted a lot of attention.

“Driving into work in downtown Auckland, you notice a lot of people looking at the car as you drive past them, and what used to take 15-20 minutes washing the car at home took over an hour last week with people stopping to ask questions about it,” he says.

Kenchington says an expanding sales and support network of eight retailers around the country has been a key factor.

High volume sales of the compact Jaguar E-Pace, and performance SUV the F-Pace SVR have also been a feature at different ends of the market making up more than a quarter of their record month’s sales.