Interview: Jaguar/Land Rover's 2009

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Shahzad Sheikh
06 December 2009

It's been a year of dramatic change, consolidation and contraction for the car industry. What has stood out for you as the most remarkable, significant or extraordinary event of the year - internationally and/or locally?

The tightening of credit was the most significant single factor affecting the motor industry in 2009. To put this into some perspective you need to look at what caused the original boom in car ownership. In 1945 there were 69,500 cars sold in the US. By 1950 that number had risen to 6.7 million and by 1965 almost 8 million. Then, as now even a cheap car cost around two fifths the average annual family income and it was the availability of cheap credit that was fueling this growth.

Today, nothing has really changed - relatively few people have the ready cash to buy a car outright and those that do wouldn't necessarily choose to spend it on a vehicle purchase. Credit has driven the expansion in global car markets and when that credit dried up recently the market shrunk as a direct result.

How have the changes on the world stage impacted the regional and/or local market in your view? As well as the short term, what are the long-term implications of the changes we have seen this year?

The myth that the Gulf was immune to global economics has been dispelled. What this year has shown is just how globalised the region has become. As individuals and organisations expand and invest beyond the Middle East then they expose themselves to opportunity and to risk beyond the fundamentally strong economics of the region. The change here will be positive in the longer term as consumers and banks take a more conservative approach and generate solid, sustainable growth rather than boom and bust cycles.

What is interesting about 2009 is that while Jaguar and Land Rover have sold less vehicles than the peak year of 2008 in the MENA region, we have still had a very good year. Even with the slow down this region is an important market with a sustained demand for luxury vehicles.

It is the one market in the world where our more expensive vehicles consistently outsell our cheaper models and that profile hasn't changed in 2009. This is a great place to do business and increasingly, the requirements of the Middle East customer are driving our product development strategy.

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