Quality is the vital area of focus for Jaguar Land Rover UK's senior team as it shifts from a volume-driven prestige car competitor to reach its ambition of being a company with a "house of brands" providing "modern luxury" products and experiences.

During the shift it will replace its dealer network's new car franchises with contracts as agents for the OEM's own direct sales to consumers; it will make the Range Rover, Discovery, Defender and Jaguar marques into their own, distinctive car brands, each with their own identity within updated JLR ARCH-style dealerships; and it aims to make the buying, ownership and repurchase experience seamless, painless and exciting for customers - including few vehicle breakdowns.

The investors in its franchise, which are mostly AM100 car dealers such as Pendragon, Lookers, Hatfields but still include a few smaller operations such as Roger Young and Duckworth, have been shown its future network expectations but the carmaker's executives refused to discuss network developments, such as the extent of cuts to the number of sales points for any brand, at a meeting with AM this week. 

"This is a genuine transformation point," said Patrick McGillycuddy, acting managing director of JLR UK. "Fundamentally what's important is how we are going to do this together with our retail partners."

Jaguar and Land Rover franchisees have invested significant sums into ARCH type dealerships since the corporate identity was first introduced in 2014, when JLR sought to get many more of its SUVs and saloons into drivers' hands, including in the company car market.