Jaguar Land Rover appoints Chinese director to board as it gears up for boost in production in China
Jaguar Land Rover has its sights set on bolstering its presence in China, with the appointment of an executive director for China.
Qing Pan will be joining the board from 1 January 2017 in the new role, where he will lead JLR's business in the country.
He previously worked at VW and Audi, and will also sit on the board of Chery JLR (a joint venture with a local firm headquartered in Changshu), which the company said marked a "strategically important appointment" to develop aligned leadership and "one clear voice" across all JLR activities in the country. Part of the role will involve boosting the car company's Chinese operations.
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JLR is gearing up to increase production at its factory in China: there are plans to ramp up output by 70,000 vehicles to more than 200,000 a year.
Earlier this year, the car firm said it expects to sell more vehicles in China than anywhere else this year. Its unit sales fell in the country last year on the back of an economic slowdown and the Chinese government's crackdown on luxury spending.
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Speth said:
In this role Qing will be responsible for leading our business in China – Jaguar Land Rover’s most important market.
Qing is the first mainland-born Chinese national on the board of a global automaker, and his local expertise and extensive experience of the premium automotive sector makes him the perfect appointment to drive our business forward in this key market and support Jaguar Land Rover’s global vision of sustained, profitable growth.
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Richard Shore held the position of acting regional president Jaguar Land Rover Greater China for 18 months and now focuses on his role as chief financial officer for JLR China.
JLR became Britain's largest car manufacturer in January, producing 500,000 vehicles in 2015 and generates over 80 per cent of its revenue from exports. It has plans to invest over £3bn in products and facilities in the fiscal year 2016/17.