Deadly Sins: Range Rover Velar Sales Dampened by Hubris

Arrogance (noun): the quality of being over-confident; synonyms: conceit, egotism, attitude of Range Rover Velar sales team.

That’s not trademark TTAC snark, either. Take it from Andy Goss, the company’s global sales operations director, who said its UK dealers were “probably a bit complacent” about the Velar and its chance for success.

Detailed in an interview with Britain’s Autocar, Goss and his team were reportedly surprised by the relatively low number of Velar orders compared to the number of test drives being taken by potential customers.

According to Autocar:

“We had a couple of things to learn if I’m honest – some adjustments to make,” said Goss. “The moment the car was revealed, the enquiry lines were red hot and we were smashing our targets like never before, and I think that led us to believe that the car would sell itself.”

And:

“But, of course, life isn’t that easy. We needed to reassess the right approach. Our dealers had taken the levels of interest and set in stone that they wouldn’t need to discount the car to sell it, for instance. Perhaps they saw a surfeit of milk and honey and felt they didn’t have to try as hard as perhaps they might otherwise.”

Well, now. Dealers taking advantage of a good situation and allowing a new model to rest on the laurels of its successful forebears? Say it ain’t so!

Goss blames the misfire on interest rates set beyond the pain point of many customers and the unwillingness (or inability) of dealers to negotiate a bit on the Velar’s bottom line. It seems, then, that the expectation of customers that they not get totally hosed when buying a car is universal. Imagine that.

Here in America, the Velar has sold 4,459 units since going on sale back in August, with sales climbing each month since that time. For the last three months it has handily outsold the Evoque and even sold roughly on par with the Range Rover Sport.

The fabulously-named Velar starts at $49,900 for the entry level trim before taking a hike all the way to $89,399 for a “First Edition” model. The snazzy R-Dynamic splits the difference at about $60,000. The Land Rover build & price tool shows a 2.99% finance rate for a base Velar on a five-year note. First Edition and R-Dynamic models are the same.

Your dealer may sell for less. Or not, if they’re hucking Velars.

[Image: Jaguar Land Rover]