Jaguar Land Rover has a problem. But it's a good problem to have. You would think that a record-setting vehicle sales mark of 425,000 vehicles sold in 2013 and a year-over-year increase of 14% in sales so far in 2014, would not be a problem - but it is.
The old rules of supply and demand make it so.
For the first time in a long time, Land Rover has more demand vehicles than it has vehicles to sell.
Take the full-size Range Rover or Range Rover Sport and try to buy one at your local dealership. In many markets you are looking at a six-month waiting period for vehicle availability.
In a candid interview with Automotive News, Mark White, JLR’s chief technologist for the company’s body engineering admitted they have faced bottlenecks in production that have stymied their ability to meet supply demands on these vehicles. The culprit? Backlogs in the Solihull body shop and paint shop. White said they have already opened a second body shop that has helped with a portion of the bottleneck but will likely be adding a second paint shop as well to help eliminate the backlog and get supply current with demand.
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