IF you’re in the market for our SME Company Car of the Year – the accomplished Jaguar XE – then you’re in for a treat next time you visit a Jaguar Land Rover retailer.

The company is splashing out a combined £1bn investment in its retailer network to roll out a new corporate identity.

It means more than 200 Jaguar Land Rover retailers will spend the not inconsiderable sum of £2m-£15m each in new premium sites, each with a globally consistent design.

When you walk into look at the Jaguar or Land Rover products you’ll find more space – the retailers will need it with the new product pipeline – and when it comes to servicing there will be an additional 1000 service bays available: an average of five per retailer more.

You’ll also notice the free wi-fi, lounge-style waiting areas and new drive-in servicing facilities There will also be longer opening hours, indoor vehicle handovers and virtual reality technology all create a modern and convenient retail environment for customers reckons Jaguar Land Rover.

Jeremy Hicks, md of Jaguar Land Rover, said:

“Jaguar Land Rover has invested massively in its vehicles and production facilities in recent years, and now to accommodate the shift in quality of those vehicles, and the numbers of them being built, we’re transforming the Jaguar Land Rover retailer network.

“By 2020, 86% of our retailer sites will be dual-brand Jaguar Land Rover sites, compared to 34% today, and they’ll all be consistent in look and feel, with a premium design and high-quality materials. We want them to be a destination for our customers, offering a service befitting the quality product our consumers have bought into.”

Facts behind the Jaguar Land Rover £1bn investment figures

• All Jaguar Land Rover retailers investing £2m to £15m each in new premium sites, representing a total investment of more than £1bn
• Jaguar Land Rover says that this will be the quickest implementation of a new corporate identity, and the most significant expansion of capacity that any brand in the UK has ever undertaken
• Nearly 90% of the new Jaguar Land Rover sites will be dual-brand by 2020, up from 34% today
• Ten UK retailers are up to date with the new design, including sites in Battersea, Stockport and West London. A further 13 are in the process of being built, and 23 will be completed by the end of 2016.
• The whole network will have adopted the design by the end of 2018 Sites will be larger to accommodate the increased numbers of Jaguar Land Rover products on the road – by 2018, there will be close to an additional 1000 service bays available
• Apprenticeship schemes and training programmes will see 1000 technical apprentices join the Jaguar Land Rover retail network by 2018
• Jaguar Land Rover is also encouraging its retailers to change the way its staff are paid, shifting from high-commission salaries to high-basic salaries