Good news from China for JLR in latest sales figures

JAGUAR Land Rover has claimed it is getting back on track with its latest quarterly sales figures despite a slight year-on-year fall.

The Coventry car maker sold 128,953 vehicles from the beginning of June to the end of September.

That represents a decrease of 0.7 per cent compared to the same three month period in 2018.

The latest figures also reveal some good news from China in the shape of a 24.3 per cent rise over the quarter.

Jaguar Land Rover also celebrated a third consecutive month of doubledigit sales growth in China.

During a period of continued growth in recent years China became Jaguar Land Rover’s largest market before sales plunged.

The fall in sales in China was described as one of the car maker’s biggest problems, along with declining demand for diesel vehicles and ongoing uncertainty over Brexit.

Quarterly sales from June to September were also up slightly in Europe (+0.9 per cent), offset by lower sales in the US (-1.0 per cent), UK (-5.1 per cent) and in overseas markets (-19.2 per cent).

Much of the recovery has been attributed to the all-new Range Rover Evoque, with quarterly sales of the Evoque up by 54.6 per cent compared to June to September 2018.

The most recent quarter saw the start of sales of the new Evoque in China.

Range Rover Sport sales rose by 17.5 per cent over the quarter with the Jaguar I-Pace continuing to be a hit too.

Quarterly sales of Jaguar Land Rover’s first all-electric model were up from 2,593 in 2018 to 3,666.

Sales slowed for the Land Rover Discovery Sport with sales of the new mid-cycle refreshed model still ramping up and sales in China only starting later in the year.

Jaguar retail sales for the quarter were 37,323 vehicles, down 11 per cent year-on-year and Land Rover retails were 91,630 vehicles, up 4.2 per cent year-on-year.

Chief commercial officer Felix Brautigam said: “Against challenging market headwinds, for the third consecutive month we have achieved double-digit growth in China, benefitting from our local turnaround plan and performing ahead of the broader market.

“We have also outperformed shrinking markets in other regions.

“Despite these negative market trends, Land Rover sales saw year-onyear growth in the quarter.

“The all-new, significantly more refined Range Rover Evoque contributed to this.

“A comprehensively updated and well-received new Discovery Sport will support this positive development in the months to come.

“Range Rover and Range Rover Sport remain key pillars of our performance with strong demand for their innovative plug-in hybrid versions in many markets.

“September saw the global reveal of the new Defender, the world’s most iconic 4x4.

“We were overwhelmed and excited by the positive public reaction to the latest addition to our line-up, which will give the whole Land Rover brand even more momentum in the future.”

Mr Brautigam said the arrival of the new Defender made the Land Rover family complete.

The car maker has said it planned to have three distinct families of vehicles in the shape of Defender, Discovery and Range Rover.

He said: “The Land Rover family is complete now - while each Land Rover vehicle is the most capable in its respective segment.”

Acknowledging some of the difficulties faced by Jaguar, Mr Brautigam added: “Whilst some of the traditional Jaguar segments are struggling in the current macro-economic environment, the treble World Car Awardwinning I-Pace continues to attract new customers to the Jaguar brand.”