West Midland-based luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover was steered its way back to profit in the last three months of 2009, Indian owner Tata Motors said has revealed today.

The company, which employs 14,500 staff in the UK, posted an after-tax profit of £59.6 million in the final quarter of last year.

Tata said stronger market conditions, well-received new models and efforts to cut costs helped put the company back in the black.

Sales volumes – aided by measures such as scrappage schemes worldwide – stood at 165,413, 68 per cent ahead of a year earlier when the auto industry was in the worst depths of the recession.

Land Rover sales were up 34 per cent quarter-on-quarter, with Jaguar volumes up 11.5 per cent after strong demand for its XF model.

But the recession has also taken its toll in terms of jobs at the historic Midlands auto firm, which employs thousands at its Land Rover factory at Solihull, as well as its Jaguar factory in Castle Bromwich and its Gaydon headquarters.

Around 2,500 jobs were axed from the company’s workforce over an 18-month period.

And there are more cost-cutting measures at the group on the way this year with Tata due to decide whether to shut its factory at Castle Bromwich or the site at Solihull.