10 QUESTIONS WITH...JOE EBERHARDT
08 January 2014
We’ve expanded our normal ‘5 Questions With’ feature to include double the information on Jaguar Land Rover North America’s recently appointed President. Here, Eberhardt shares his views of joining Jaguar Land Rover North America, his plans for its future and his dream to one day put an E‑Type – alongside a new F‑TYPE Coupe ‑ in his garage.
1: Why did you decide to take this key position at Jaguar Land Rover?
In recent years, I had really been enjoying what I was doing, which was a combination of teaching and consulting. It was fun and challenging working with a lot of exciting and interesting companies. When I spoke to Jaguar Land Rover about the opportunity, I was immediately excited. Jaguar and Land Rover are two of the most legendary brands in the industry, with a remarkable product portfolio and a loyal, high‑quality dealer organization. In my visits to Mahwah and the UK, I found an extremely dedicated and visionary group of senior executives determined to do whatever it takes to drive these two brands to the next level. I am really excited to be working with this team and these retailers.
2: How does it feel to be back in the mainstream auto business?
The past few years have been truly rewarding and often highly challenging, though I did find it tough to get up every morning and look forward to getting to my desk and thinking up new ways to market the next piece of legal software. Once you have experienced the car business, and all the emotion and desirability of the products, it’s just hard to be away. I am extremely excited and honored to be given this exceptional opportunity.
3: As you join the company, what are your early views of the brands and the company?
Both Jaguar and Land Rover are very powerful brands. The Jaguar product renewal the last few years has started the transformation of the brand. The Land Rover brand has also been on a great path for many years. In fact, when I was heading Jeep, we benchmarked Land Rover as it was such a successful and well‑defined off‑road and SUV brand. Today, Land Rover continues to build on this legacy and extend its leadership in luxury SUVs.
More recently, just a few days into my new job, the company announced some truly exceptional sales results in North America for the full year 2013; a 15 percent increase for Land Rover, 41 percent for Jaguar, and a combined growth of 20 percent with almost 67,000 units sold. Quite an achievement. Going forward, we will work not only on growth, but on building a sustainable and profitable business for our company and our dealer partners.
4: What are you immediate priorities coming into this new job?
I must say that I have been very positively surprised and impressed by so many of the initiatives that have already been put in motion by the team in North America. My focus in the beginning will be to take what’s there, sharpen the focus a little bit and work with the teams to ensure flawless execution.
5. How strong a team do you have in the U.S. right now?
We have some remarkable people within our North American operations. That, ultimately, was one of the many reasons why I decided to join the company. You can have great products and strong brands, but if the corporate culture doesn’t inspire people to be jointly focused on a common goal, then it’s not going to be a lot of fun. In the short period of time I’ve been here, I’ve found that people in this company honestly like each other, want to work together, and work as a team with a common goal. That is what will help ensure our success.
6: Do you have one particular goal?
I have a long list, but I feel Jaguar in particular has the opportunity to not just grow in volume in the U.S., but to grow in stature and become truly iconoclastic. Yes, it is a challenger brand today, but we all think that down the road we should be able to become a serious alternative to the established luxury brands. We have the product ‑ and there is a lot more on the way ‑ the people, the ideas and the retailers to make that happen. My goal is to move the brand to that level.
7: You spent 18 years at Mercedes‑Benz running everything from U.S. sales and marketing to heading up the flagship Manhattan dealership. Has that given you the kind of insight into the luxury market that will benefit Jaguar Land Rover?
The situation at Mercedes‑Benz is not too dissimilar to the situation at Jaguar Land Rover right now. Twenty years ago, Mercedes was not the powerhouse it is today in terms of its market position, sales numbers and customer appeal. Back then it was selling between 60,000 and 70,000 units, compared to over 300,000 now. We had to work hard to get our colleagues in Germany to build a product portfolio that fulfilled the U.S. market’s needs in terms of customer requirements. We also worked closely with the dealers to build a network that is as competitive as it is today. Obviously, so much of Mercedes‑Benz’ success has been about building brands and having solid dealer relations, and about creating products that are exciting and appealing. Hopefully I can apply that experience to building a stronger Jaguar Land Rover here in North America.
8: How much of an opportunity have you had to get behind the wheel of the latest Jaguar Land Rover models?
Experiencing the vehicles was ultimately one of the main reasons for my decision to join the company. When I went over to the UK to talk to the management team, I had the opportunity to sample pretty much the entire portfolio out on the Gaydon proving grounds, and it was like being the proverbial kid in the candy store. Being in the business as long as I have, it can be difficult to get excited about cars, but I have to say, my driving passions have been truly rekindled by getting behind the wheel of new vehicles like the new F‑TYPE and Range Rover Sport.
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9: We read in a 2005 interview that your dream car is a Jaguar E‑Type. Does your new job now give you permission to put one in the garage?
When I accepted this job, I did think how ironic it was to work for the brand that produced my most desired car of all time. Ever since I was a kid growing up in Germany, the E‑Type has been a dream car. Throughout my career, it has continued to sit on a pedestal. I still get excited every time I see one. Maybe it won’t be too long before I can put one in my garage, and hopefully with a new F‑TYPE Coupe alongside it.
10: Tell us something we don’t know about Joe Eberhardt.
One of my true passions is to drive. Back in 2004, for the Mille Miglia retrospective, I had the opportunity to drive a famous 1929 Chrysler with an auto journalist. At the first change‑over point, he got behind the wheel but after two minutes decided the car was far too demanding for him. Yes, it was a lot of work; it was really fast, yet there was power‑nothing, and the brakes decided when they wanted to work or not. So I got back behind the wheel and drove pretty much the entire 1,000 miles. It was probably the most frightening, most challenging, most physically‑exhausting thing I’ve ever done. But I adored every mile. At the end of the event, I literally couldn’t open my hands, couldn’t stand.