what store ordered the Octa for you?
right now there are 2 unsold Octa’s at the ports.
coming into the NA market, right now there are 141 unsold Octa’s. I thought every store would have sold out.

 

Curious to know where you found that there are 141 unsold Octas? is there a website where this information is available?

 

I know personally of one large California dealer who's plan for all of their OCTA allocation was to spec each build by the dealership and order for stock. As the OCTA's arrive they would determine what levels of markup would be applied and possibly play the game of highest bidder, I'm unsure now months later if that's how they executed and intend to retail them. Also unknown is how widespread that method might be at other dealers, if so it could explain why there appears to be large number unsold.

Lastly, I've heard from dealers the limited colors on the standard OCTA were a tough sell with many buyers who couldn't get an Edition One. The belief was once they arrive in store they will find a home and worst case receive a wrap.

 

Dealer is not the importer. Jaguar Land Rover has a US arm called Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC based in Mahwah, New Jersey. Like Porsche Cars North America and most other brands the US organization imports them and manages US sales, service, and parts operations in addition to dealer franchising for the home company.

 

Thanks PNW Rover, that does fill in some gaps. I was told today that I could expect delivery to dealer this Friday. My dealer has two OCTAs in this first wave, both in port, and neither have been delivered. I’m trying to be patient but it’s hard.

 

That's awesome on your impending delivery!

Mine is due middle of June, so I will have to live vicariously through others like yourself until then!

 

For those of us anxiously waiting and if you have your VIN no., - if you use LandRover online manual, load in your VIN and the manual has the OCTA spec inserts.

 

From the info I have gathered, though I don’t have much confidence of, Land Rover, to include the Defender, is a UK import. The tariffs are aimed at the EU. The US actually had a trade surplus with the UK. However, it takes much more brain power that I care to muster in retirement, to untangle BREXIT/EU/USA trade agreements.

 

I don't see how it is up to Land Rover to decide if the Defender is designated a UK import. The VIN and window sticker of a Defender identify the final assembly point being Nitra, Slovakia which would make it EU produced in the eyes of any regulator. A huge reason JLR opened the Nitra plant was to avoid EU tariffs after Brexit, so that implies where any paper trail will tell you where it is made.

As far as the ship making a stop at Southampton, I don't see 1) how a vehicle completed in another country later touching a port makes it produced at a stop along the way. 2) Those ships leaving Bremerhaven generally make a stop in Sweden before Southhampton. That doesn't make them Swedish. 3) There is no actual proof the Defenders are unloaded in Southhampton, receive some part, and then are reloaded on that or another ship making them suddenly a UK product. The Southhampton stop is almost certainly to load Range Rover and likely other UK produced vehicles like Mini. An off load / on load don't change any of that and operationally it would be costly and insane for any reason to unload and reload a bunch of vehicles. The loading process at a stop is well engineered by the shipping line to load them once at various stops and not move them until a particular vehicles reaches it's destination.

So again, the VIN identifier of final production location is the key factor. That said, if the UK was not the recipient of a tariff, would the US further grant an exception to a UK manufacturer's products produced in EU countries? That is the question I would be mulling over...but don't count on it.

As far as Jim's vehicle, it has already landed at a US port and been accepted by JLRNA (the importer). I'm sure OCTA and those along with it are in the clear.

 

I received a call from my dealer last week - my Octa is expected to be delivered this Friday (3/14). I await confirmation with baited breath.