In a move that perfectly captures the excesses of modern luxury consumption, Jaguar Land Rover is betting big on wealthy customers who want their SUVs color-coordinated with their other high-end toys. The British automaker is investing £65 million ($81 million) to expand its paint facilities, allowing customers to match their Range Rovers to everything from their private jets to their Mediterranean yachts.
The price tag for such chromatic harmony? A cool £70,000 (around $87,000) on top of the Range Rover SV’s base price of £202,000 (about $250,000). That’s right – some customers are paying supercar money just to paint their SUV in a specific shade.
Yet JLR’s gamble appears to be paying off. Demand for these bespoke paint jobs has more than doubled since 2022, suggesting that the ultra-wealthy’s appetite for personalization knows few bounds. The company is now expanding its special paint facilities in both the UK and Slovakia to meet this growing demand for automotive color-matching.
The trend speaks volumes about the current state of luxury consumption, where exclusivity and personalization often trump practicality. It’s no longer enough to own a premium vehicle – it must be uniquely yours, coordinated with your other luxury assets in a kind of high-net-worth color symphony. JLR’s move also reflects the company’s broader strategy to position itself firmly in the ultra-luxury segment. Unable to compete with the production volumes of mainstream premium brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, JLR is instead following the Porsche playbook of catering to customers who are willing to pay handsomely for bespoke options.
Interestingly, JLR is wrapping this exercise in excess in a green bow. The new paint facilities will feature energy-efficient technologies and automated spray robots that reduce paint waste by 30%. A new heat exchanger system will save 2,250 tons of CO2 annually – though one might argue that the environmental impact of maintaining a matching set of jets, yachts, and SUVs somewhat overshadows these savings.
The strategy raises an intriguing question: in a world of growing wealth inequality, is there any limit to what the ultra-wealthy will spend on personalization? For JLR, at least, the answer seems to be a resounding “no.” As long as there are customers willing to pay sports car prices just to color-coordinate their vehicle fleet, luxury automakers will be happy to oblige – one bespoke paint job at a time.
