JLR reported the number of customers kitting their vehicles out with a personalized color option has more than doubled since the fiscal year that ended in March 2022. As a result, it is preparing to offer thousands more paint options, so that owners of the top-of-the-line Range Rover SV can match the color of their off-roader to the hue found on their private jet or yacht. 

“SVO [Special Vehicle Operations] is all about offering our clients unparalleled performance, luxury, and capability. That includes the most exclusive, high-quality color finishes available,” Jamal Hameedi, head of SVO at Jaguar Land Rover, said in a statement on Monday.

The £65 million ($81 million) investment needed will be spread across two sites, roughly two-thirds for its Castle Bromwich plant in England and the remainder for its Nitra facility in Slovakia.

Both Jaguar and Land Rover are trying to position themselves more as luxury brands—in part out of necessity. Their low volumes make it hard to compete with more mainstream European premium brands like Mercedes-Benz. The BMW brand alone can enjoy better economies of scale at a lower price point, because it sells five times as many cars as JLR combined. 

If JLR wants to compete with niche brands that are more similar in size, like Porsche, then custom add-ons become a must-have. The German carmaker, for example, has its Exclusive Manufaktur in Stuttgart, where personnel work alongside the customer to craft the car exactly to a buyer’s wishes. So long as the client has the cash, the options become almost limitless. 

According to JLR, the typical commission for its SV Bespoke Paint matching service adds £70,000 on top of the £202,000 average selling price of a Range Rover SV—in exchange for an extended choice of materials, finishes, and color among other high-priced options. This is a tidy success for a service that’s only been on offer since May 2023.

Automotive equivalent of semiconductor clean rooms

The £65 million investment is a calculated bet to be sure. Automakers tend to think long and hard before investing in further paint capacity as they can only be efficiently operated with a very high throughput. In fact, the level of automation required is the highest in the entire manufacturing process.

Paint shops are also the automotive industry’s equivalent of a semiconductor clean room. Access is highly restricted, and those employees granted entry must remove jewelry and watches—anything that might cause a scratch—while donning protective suits and hairnets to be worn at all times. 

The ambient temperature, humidity, and even airflow are all regulated to ensure the precise application of a coat. Even the sequence of vehicles is predetermined according to color, to minimize the need to change paints as much as possible. 

The whole process is also environmentally delicate owing to electricity consumption and the use of controlled chemicals and solvents that must be carefully trapped and collected.

A key priority therefore of the new investments in Castle Bromwich and Nitra is reducing their carbon footprints in order to maintain JLR’s net-zero commitment for 2039. The flip side is any CO2 savings would have a disproportionately positive effect. 

“Paint shops are very energy intensive, accounting for around 80% of our operational emissions,” said Andrea Debbane, JLR’s chief sustainability officer, “so they represent our biggest opportunity.”