Won't electrification solve main China issues?
China is being hit hard by the trade war - their economy is, well, still something of a paper tiger. Foreign vehicles in China are tariffed at around 25%; Buicks there are equivalent in affordability there to S-class Mercs here. This is for two reasons - one, protectionism for the domestic Chinese auto makers (who shamelessly copy Land Rover designs, among others), and two, to force foreign automakers to bring advanced manufacturing capabilities and their own intellectual property into China...where China can exploit them. Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery, and industrial espionage is just really, really lucrative plagiarism.
So, while China's economy was on a tear after the global recession ended, young wealthy Chinese could suddenly afford foreign vehicles as a status symbol. Then the trade war began, and they're now dialing back luxury purchases while the US economy continues to grow at a Fed Reserve-restrained 2-3% annually, a reason why US JLR sales have doubled in recent years. Plus we likes us some SUVs and Jaguar introduced two very popular ones in addition to the Evoque.
JLR had a presence in Hong Kong and Macau for a long time, so their brands already had some recognition; they were poised to take that China-wide into the larger cities, but this trade war has come right at the time they expected to see their largest growth.
Electrification may help, but a prosperous Chinese middle class will help more.
