A group of polytechnic students attended Jaguar Land Rover's Apprentice Training Program to learn to become skilled auto technicians in the future. Photos provided to China Daily

British premium carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has found China to be its largest market in the world after two years of solid growth, said the company's China chief Bob Grace as he disclosed the "most satisfying" news during a recent interview in Guangzhou.

"Two years ago when I came here, our business in China was not in the top five. Today China is Number 1," said the 50-year-old British native, who has served as president of Jaguar Land Rover China since July 2010.

"Look at any business metric - China is Number 1," he noted. "And quite honestly, it has only just started, so there is still a lot of adventure up ahead."

According to Grace, the UK auto manufacturer delivered about 60,000 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles - solely imports - in the Chinese market between January and October this year, an nearly 90 percent surge over the same period last year.

The company's full-year 2010 sales in the country totaled to just above 26,000. The figure increased to over 42,000 last year.

"From an automotive industry perspective, the place to be in the world at the moment is China," Grace said.

In an industry that is "going through a revolution" with quickly changing consumer trends and an "amazing, positive let's-do-it-now attitude", Grace said he has had more new experiences in his last 27 months in China than in all the rest of his career added together.

Grace said China's luxury car market will maintain strong growth next year, probably doubling the estimated rate for the overall industry of 6 to 10 percent, with the luxury SUV segment in which Land Rover competes growing even more.

Apprentice program

The executive made the remarks in an interview with China Daily last Tuesday after a ceremony to launch its Apprentice Training Program in partnership with a local polytechnic school in Guangzhou.

Forty students are enrolled in the Guangzhou program this year to learn to become skilled auto technicians. Jaguar Land Rover will provide well-planned courses, highly-experienced instructors and cutting-edge vehicles, engines and gearboxes to aid students in their studies.

The carmaker already has apprentice programs with local schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an, which train future technicians that are highly needed by the rapidly developing China auto market.

By 2015, more than 450 students are expected to graduate from the program and will receive priority in working at Jaguar Land Rover's dealerships across the country.

In addition to the latest apprentice program, Jaguar Land Rover plans to enhance its presence in the southern China region. It will set up a regional office and a training academy in Guangzhou next year, to add to existing facilities in Beijing and Shanghai, according to Grace.

The southern market now accounts for nearly 14 percent of Jaguar Land Rover sales nationwide, yet the number is expected to grow "quite significantly" along with the expansion of our dealer network in the region, he said.

The company has signed on nearly 30 dealers in southern China. Half of them are now operational, with the rest to follow in the next six months, he said.

New model debuts

In the upcoming Guangzhou auto show later this month, the all-new Jaguar F-Type and all-new Range Rover will witness their China debuts after their world premieres in Paris in September. Both models will hit the market in 2013 in a new offensive to drive sales growth at Jaguar Land Rover.

The all-new Jaguar F-Type is a two-seater sports car with a lightweight all-aluminum body, the newest product in the brand's China portfolio, which also includes the XF, XJ and XK. The "fantastic" vehicle will "reshape the Jaguar brand" in China, Grace said.

The all-new Range Rover will undoubtedly be perceived by Chinese customers as a "stunning" product, he said.

Grace added that the company plans to bring a hybrid vehicle to the China market at the end of next year or in 2014. It will be "more of a traditional gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle" but with "significant difference", he said, declining to reveal more detail on the powertrain.

The automaker now imports the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque, Freelander 2, Discovery 4 and Defender under the Land Rover brand as well as the Jaguar XF, XJ and XK to China.

The Range Rover Evoque, a compact luxury SUV that was launched a year ago, has greatly increased the brand's popularity among female customers and has now become its best-selling product in China, a close win over its other hot seller, the Freelander.

This year nearly 20,000 Evoque vehicles will be sold in China, said Grace.

Adding to its good news, Jaguar Land Rover's joint venture with domestic carmaker Chery, which plans to produce vehicles in Changshu, Jiangsu province, finally received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission last week.

The plant will have a designed capacity to make 130,000 vehicles and the same number of engines per year, according to the official announcement on the NDRC website.

hantianyang@chinadaily.com.cn