Record US sales takes heat off JLR China woes

JAGUAR Land Rover has celebrated a record-breaking double in the US, with monthly and annual sales rising.

In December the Midland car maker sold 14,079 vehicles, representing a 24 per cent increase over the same month in 2017 and making it the best ever December stateside.

The December sales figures rounded-off a good year for Jaguar Land Rover in the US, despite its woes in China.

For the calendar year the car maker sold 122,626 vehicles – up seven per cent compared to the previous record of 114,333 units in 2017, establishing a new all-time US sales record.

The news comes as a welcome boost for Jaguar Land Rover as it copes with a number of challenges, including uncertainty over Brexit, declining demand for diesel vehicles and slowing sales in China.

Parent company Tata is planning a £2.5 billion cost-saving programme as part of an ambitious turnaround plan.

The charge is being very much led by Land Rover in the US, with 10,617 of the 14,000-plus cars sold in December being Land Rovers.

In December 33 per cent more Land Rovers were sold than in December 2017. Over the year 92,143 of the 122,626 vehicles sold in the US were Land Rovers representing a 23 per cent rise over 2017.

Almost half of those were premium vehicles like the Range Rover Sport (24,282 units) and Range Rover (19,030 units).

The Range Rover Sport was Land Rover’s biggest seller in the US in 2018.

Jaguar saw 3,462 cars sold in December, a slight increase from 3,414 units in December 2017.

The marque continued to make inroads in the SUV market in the US, thanks to the expansion of the ‘Pace’ family – with both the E-Pace and I-Pace joining the range.

Sales of Jaguar SUV models in 2018 totalled 19,624 units, a rise of 3.6 per cent from 2018.

Looking forward the car maker will have high hopes for its all-new Evoque model, which was recently unveiled.