NEW YORK -- Jaguar Land Rover is rolling out a dealership facility standard designed to feature both brands in dualed stores.
The new corporate identity program, called Arch, is global and mandatory.
"I would expect the entire transformation will take us five to seven years," said Joe Eberhardt, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover North America, in an interview at the auto show here.
"We are looking longer term. It is an architecture that is very simple and up to date."
Eberhardt: The entire transformation should take five to seven years.
The average investment is expected to range from $100 to $220 per square foot, depending on whether the project is a renovation or new construction, he said.
Dealers who have not invested significantly in their stores had to make a commitment by the end of last month, said Eberhardt. Those who have invested more recently have until year end to commit, and dealers with the newest stores will be given even more time, he said.
The first Arch dealership in the United States will be a heavily modified former Nissan store being renovated by the Penske Automotive Group in Darien, Conn. Jaguar Land Rover Darien will open in early summer, Eberhardt said.
The new Arch exterior color is "sunshine grey," for both brands -- shedding the flying cat statues at some Jaguar stores and the white-and-green exteriors of Land Rover dealerships. Eberhardt describes the conjoined buildings as jewel boxes.
The two franchises are connected at an entryway with glass doors.
"We are looking longer term. It is an architecture that is very simple and up to date, Eberhardt said. "We will stay with this for at least 10 years."
The 226 Jaguar and Land Rover rooftops include 114 combined Jaguar Land Rover dealerships and 112 stand-alone stores, he said.
Jaguar Land Rover has been pushing dealers to operate combined stores in the belief that having both brands makes a dealership more competitive with other luxury brands that have cars, SUVs and crossovers.
"We hope this is an incentive to accelerate those discussions," Eberhardt said.
Stand-alone Jaguar or Land Rover dealers will have the single jewel box building.
Eberhardt wants to add between 20 and 30 joint Jaguar Land Rover stores in the next five years in areas where customers may have to travel longer distances.
Short-term, the goal is drive profitability of the Jaguar franchises, he said. Last year, Jaguar sold 14,466 cars in the U.S. and Land Rover sold 70,582.
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