By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
Jaguar and Land Rover, Britain's representative premium-class automobile brands, will be launched here as an independent and integrated corporation.
Jaguar Land Rover Korea (JLRK) announced Tuesday that Lee Dong-hoon, former general manager of Premier Automotive Group Korea (PAGK), was named CEO of the new corporation.
Lee, 43, was in charge of the two marquees at PAGK before the brands were separated from the control of the Ford affiliate, which also dealt with Volvo in the Korean market.
The separation took place as Indian company Tata Group bought the two luxury U.K.-based brands from Ford for $2.3 billion last month. Ford, a struggling U.S. car giant, has been forced to sell the two companies to concentrate on its U.S. business.
Dealerships will be virtually the same as before, the company said. Its departments, including sales, marketing and customer service, have already been separately operated from Volvo even before the independent launch.
The new CEO expected the new corporation to upgrade brand marketing in the Korean market.
"Tata Group will maintain and develop the tradition and identity of Jaguar and Land Rover, so the launch is an important stepping stone for us to upgrade the brands in Korea," Lee said. "We are unique and have quality, so I believe we can see more improvement in the imported car market here with more aggressive investment and strategic support."
Jaguar and Land Rover sold 464 and 632 units, respectively, in 2007. JLRK aims to increase its sales to a combined 1450 vehicles this year.