Jaguar Land Rover becomes JLR with a new logo

In Coventry, strong winds of change are blowing - and even the Jaguar Land Rover Group name is not immune. It will be shortened to the more streamlined JLR.

Behind the initials, the Jaguar Land Rover designation still exists. However, in its communications, the group will stop using the full name and will refer to itself only as JLR.

Alongside this announcement, a new logo was unveiled and, for the first time, the company will no longer pair the Jaguar and Land Rover logos together, opting instead for a single, unified identity.

The updated logo uses a clean, stylised, minimalist and elegant linear typeface, aligning with the group’s ambition for modern luxury.

The end of Land Rover?

The decision to refresh the group’s identity - both the name and the logo - is partly explained by a strategy to strengthen the brand power of Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar.

You read that correctly: brands. Range Rover, Defender and Discovery will be elevated in status and positioned as independent brands. But what, then, happens to Land Rover? Is this the end?

No, according to JLR. Land Rover will continue to exist, albeit with a different role, and will remain visible on “vehicles, online platforms and points of sale”. It will effectively serve as a “mark of trust” for the group’s other SUV and off-road vehicle brands.

Why move Land Rover into this somewhat secondary role? Gerry McGovern, JLR’s Chief Creative Officer, sheds light on the thinking in comments to Autocar.

“The reality is that Range Rover is a brand just like Defender. Customers say they have a Range Rover and not a Land Rover Range Rover SV Autobiography. In luxury you need absolute clarity.”

Gerry McGovern, Chief Creative Officer at JLR

McGovern adds that, although they love Land Rover, as a brand it does not have the same equity as Range Rover. “And (the) Defender (brand) is rising (in value) significantly,” he concludes.

Jaguar will be about electric luxury

While Land Rover… sorry, Range Rover, Defender and Discovery have been JLR’s revenue engines, Jaguar has found itself in something of a limbo.

Its reinvention is on the way and will be a kind of “all or nothing” moment for the historic British marque. Jaguar will shift further upmarket, setting its sights on brands such as Bentley or Porsche, rather than the usual German premium trio (Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW).

The first chapter of this reinvention will be revealed in 2024, with market arrival in 2025. Get to know it in more detail.