Special Vehicle Operations' John Edwards: PH Meets
With an SVR Range Rover on the PH Fleet and confirmation of the SVR F-Type, time to talk to the man in charge of building them
The conversation here actually dates from a while back - last year's Geneva show in fact - but events since place his comments into sharper context. For starters we've actually got the first SVR-branded model in the market - the Range Rover Sport - and are now a few months into life with it as a long-term test car. The second, the F-Type SVR, has been confirmed and will launch officially in a few weeks at this year's Geneva show. And from appearances in Bond to the launch of the Range Rover SVAutobiography we're now seeing the fruits of his department's labours.
A good chance to set the scene, let John explain exactly how it all works, what the founding principles for SVO are and what he has in store for us.
Expect to see more of this on future JLR products
"The brand name is Special Vehicle Operations; 'Special Operations' is an internal name only. But SVO is the brand name we talk about externally."
So the sign outside your headquarters says Special Vehicle Operations?
"Correct!"
And vehicles will be badged SVR?
"SVO will push the boundaries of the core JLR range in three directions; in terms of luxury, in terms of all-terrain performance and in terms of sports performance.
"So we would badge our sports performance derivatives as SVR, be they Jaguars or Land Rovers. To wear that badge they will have to satisfy the DNA of an SVR and that's about reduced weight, increased power, power to weight ratio, it's all about improved aerodynamics, it's all about distinctive styling. Improved vmax, 0-60 and track times. If you can tick each of these boxes then you qualify to wear the SVR badge.
"It's worth saying the competition is very clear and established here; AMG, M Division and the like - we know who the competitors are, they've very strong and we're very respectful. But we believe now our business is ready to expand into that market and if the response to the Range Rover Sport SVR is anything to go by we think we can help to grow that market, or certainly compete in that market."
All SVRs must have more power and reduced weight
"This is all about exclusivity, individualisation, extended choice, it's all about refinement. We consider the key competitors here to be the likes of Rolls-Royce, Bentley and maybe Ferrari. I'm not suggesting we're going to make a supercar like Ferrari, more about the way they bespoke their products, their whole personalisation programme.
"We know, particularly with Range Rover, customers want to take it further and it's something we have just scraped the surface with so far. There's demand to do a lot more."
Would this extend to long-wheelbases, armouring and things like that?
"Two different questions. We could, but we're not really interested in reengineering the car. It's more about the aesthetics. Armouring, however, we have our real special products at the centre of this [business] model. I think we could do it a lot better, we could do it a lot more single-mindedly and our Range Rover Sentinel is an example of that."
Armouring more likely than extended wheelbases
"In a way we already define it but we think there's an opportunity to push the boundaries further."
Like what Mercedes is doing with vehicles like theG500 Squared?
"The opportunity for us is much more the luxury area of the SUV market the Bentleys of this world are pushing into. We need to reassert our credentials there and possibly push the brand upwards."
Tell us about some of the fun projects.
"They're all fun projects! I've got a guy in my team called David Fairbairn and it's his job to come up with the wild ideas. Typically in a business of our size it's difficult to give people that creative freedom but he came up with the lightweight E-Type, which, with hindsight, doesn't sound like a crazy idea. But when he came up with it I kicked him out of my office but his enthusiasm and energy meant he just kept coming back and back. He'd really thought about the detail, he'd been talking to suppliers, everything. And we've executed it.
"He was passionate about getting our cars into Bond too, especially the C-X75. For me it's one of the best ads for my products you can get."
Project 7 limited, SVR will be series production
"That's a good question. We get asked ... we would think about that. You'd have to have quite a big chequebook."
Something like a Project 7 but in coupe form perhaps?
"Yeah, but that's not a one-off of course, we're doing 250 cars at £145K which equals over £30m. Which then pays for the engineering and out of that hopefully we get a return. Doing a one-off, the maths doesn't work.
"Project 7 was a really interesting one, going back, there were some doubting us in the business regarding the number of cars we'd sell. I was convinced we'd sell 250 cars and I've been proven right, there are people out there who want cars like this."
So will SVRs be limited production too?
"No, a derivative in the range, in the brochure."
So could you see an SVR XE, XF or F-Pace?
"SVR could apply to any of our products provided it's lighter, has increased power, increased aero. The question is do we have the right powertrain, do we have the right market equation, do the commercials work. I can tell you there will be more Jaguar SVRs, I can't tell you what products they will be."
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[Source: Coventry Telegraph]
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