Silver lining as JLR sales slump 13% during Covid

JAGUAR Land Rover’s sales suffered a reverse of more than 13 per cent during its latest financial year as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to bite.

The automotive giant posted a fall in sales of 13.6 per cent for the 12 months to March 2021, while Jaguar slumped to a 30.5 per cent downturn with Land Rover reporting a 7.1 per cent fall year on year.

Overall, Jaguar Land Rover sold 439,000 cars in the year, 97,000 for Jaguar and 341,000 for Land Rover.

But in its fourth quarter,

123,000 vehicles were sold, 12.4 per cent higher than the same quarter last year.

China sales were up 127 per cent compared to a year ago when that market was heavily impacted by Covid-19.

Chief commercial officer Felix Brautigam said: “While the Covid-19 pandemic has an ongoing impact on the global auto industry, I am pleased to end the financial year with sales up year-on-year in the last quarter. Encouragingly, the steady recovery throughout the year follows the direction of our Reimagine strategy: the quality of our sales improved even more than the volume, with a focus on our most profitable car lines, higher specifications and lower incentives.

“Despite very different Covid restrictions worldwide we also achieved our objective of balanced sales across our key markets. At Land Rover, we are delighted with the continued growth in demand for the new Land Rover Defender in the quarter and we’re very proud to see it named Supreme Winner, Women’s World Car of the Year 2021.”