Jaguar sales still growing
WORLDWIDE CAR SALES BOOSTS STATIC ACTIVITY IN UK MARKET
COVENTRY car make Jaguar Land Rover saw UK sales remain static in 2017 though globally the firm enjoyed continued growth.
The company maintained its year-on-year sales volume in the UK by selling more than 118,000 vehicles during 2017.
The Midland manufacturer said it sold 118,213 cars during 2017 which it called “a strong result” against the backdrop of a UK car market which saw a fall of 5.6 per cent last year.
The figure for 2017 was down slightly on 2016’s results when it sold 118,290 vehicles in the UK.
Jaguar Land Rover is headquartered in Whitley and has major Midland manufacturing operations in Birmingham, Solihull and near Wolverhampton. It said more Jaguars had been sold in the UK in 2017 than ever before at 35,541 and this figure was more than the number sold in 2011 and 2012 combined. Land Rover enjoyed a strong year, the manufacturer said, with the new Discovery and Range Rover Velar helping the brand to 82,672 sales in the UK. Globally, the company sold 621,109 vehicles, up by 6.5 per cent on 2016, comprising 178,601 Jaguars and 442,508 Land Rovers. The company claimed momentum would continue in 2018 following recent launch of the Jaguar E-Pace, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport PHEVs and arrival of the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace next year.
Jeremy Hicks, Jaguar Land Rover’s managing director for the UK, said: “Our business has continued to see strong growth in the UK in 2017, with new models entering the marketplace helping us to sell more than 118,000 vehicles and our retail network investing more than £500million in building brand new or renovated Jaguar Land Rover sites. “To put this sales growth into perspective, this is more than double the 57,000 vehicles Jaguar Land Rover sold in total in the UK back in 2011. “We are delighted with this performance amid what has undoubtedly been a tough marketplace with ongoing Brexit negotiations and continued misconceptions around clean, modern diesel technology causing consumer uncertainty during 2017.”
Andy Goss, group sales operations director, added: “We have once again delivered year-on-year sales increases thanks to a worldclass product range and new models such as the E-Pace and Velar, as well as China-specific models such as the XFL.
“But we are facing tough times in key markets such as the UK where consumer confidence and diesel taxes will hit us.”
We are delighted with this performance amid what has undoubtedly been a tough market place. Jeremy Hicks, JLR