Jaguar Land Rover MENA, the leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles, has unveiled a new dedicated regional training Academy in Dubai, designed to deliver technical and non-technical training programmes to dealers and Regional Office staff across the MENA network.  Based on the successful Jaguar Land Rover Academy in the UK, the new training facility is the first of its kind for the manufacturer in the region, and is testament to the company’s continued investment in MENA, following the launch of a AED 5.5 Million / USD 1.5 Million engineering test centre in May 2013.

Jaguar Land Rover has been running successful training programmes for dealer and regional office staff in the region for a number of years.   Now, with 40 dealerships across 17 markets in MENA, and a further 24 dealerships expected by 2017/18, the Academy will serve as a dedicated regional training facility to enable Jaguar Land Rover to replicate the in-depth training offered by its UK-based Academy.

Located in Dubiotech, Dubai, the 907m² facility offers both technical and non-technical training programmes for Jaguar Land Rover’s dealer partners, including those in Sales, After-sales and Technical job roles, as well as Regional Office staff, and will deliver up to 11,000 man days of training a year when fully operational.

Commenting on the launch, Dealer Development Director Richard Gouverneur said:  “We are thrilled to unveil our new dedicated training Academy here in Dubai. With over 1800 Jaguar Land Rover dealer staff in the MENA region, the Academy will enable us to deliver a comprehensive and convenient in-market training solution to ensure we maintain the high quality experience our customers have come to expect. The Academy has been developed to meet and exceed our ambitious growth targets and will cater to training in excess of 3000 dealer staff in the near future.”

Training Academy Manager Andrew Sparkes added: “The Academy shows our commitment to dealer standards through training and development, and is the first time we have been able to offer such a wide range of technical and non-technical training in a purpose-built regional facility, endorsed by our UK Academy.”

The Academy comprises a purpose built workshop with floor space to accommodate 4 training vehicles. A fully equipped showroom has also been created to offer training in a dealership retail environment, featuring a dedicated sales reception, sales areas, service reception, customer lounge and configurator.

The Academy features 5 fully-specified training rooms and has additional facilities in the form of a lounge, cafeteria area and prayer rooms.

Mirroring the UK Academy, training is focused on job roles, with a range of specialised programmes for Retail Sales, Dealer Corporate Sales and Used Car Sales Executives including Sales Core Process Training, Brand Technologies and Product Knowledge courses.

For aftersales dealer staff, including Service, Parts and Warranty Advisers and Workshop Controllers, the Academy offers Dealer Service Experience, Delivering Service and Parts Performance, and Warranty Best Practice training.

All Managers across Sales, Parts and Service are offered Foundation and Master Level Management training courses that are developed and endorsed by the UK Academy.