Jaguar powers ahead while Land Rover sales slow
A strong performance from the top-selling F-Pace has spearheaded strong Jaguar sales around the world over the last month.
Latest figures from the West Midlands-based luxury car maker show Jaguar sales booming but a dip in demand for sister brand Land Rover, blamed on the changeover to the new version of the Discovery .
Jaguar Land Rover, which makes its four-cylinder diesel and petrol engines at its factory on the i54 site in Wolverhampton, has been celebrating record breaking sales in the first three months of the year.
But in April sales around the world dipped two per cent to 40,385. While Jaguar car sales continued to race ahead – up 54 per cent to 12,310 thanks to the F-Pace, recently voted World Car of the Year – Land Rover sales fell 16 per cent to 28,075.
Retail sales for the month of April were up in North America (33%), China (10%) and Europe (3%), but down in the UK (37%) and in other overseas markets (20%) year-on-year.
Andy Goss, Jaguar Land Rover group sales operations director, said: “This was a solid sales month with a strong performance from Jaguar led by the award-winning F-Pace.
“A small decrease in overall sales was seen due to two factors. In the UK, customers purchased vehicles before the increase in vehicle tax on April 1. In addition, the run-out of the previous Discovery model accounted for a year-on-year decrease in Land Rover sales.
"Sales will increase from this month as the new Discovery continues to go on sale across the world, particularly in China and North America, two of Jaguar Land Rover’s biggest markets.”
JLR says sales for the new Discovery are growing in the UK and Europe. New Discovery sales will begin in China and North America this month.
It is also launching its first new Range Rover since the Evoque – the Velar – which will also be powered by Wolverhampton-made Ingenium engines.
Jaguar Land Rover is investing around £3.5 billion annually to extend its model range and manufacturing footprint, including a new plant in Slovakia and recently launched models including the new Discovery, Range Rover Velar and Chinese-market Jaguar XFL
Meanwhile work continues on the expansion of the i54 engine factory, doubling its size to 2 million sq ft and taking investment to a total of £1bn. The site currently employs 1,400 people with hundreds more expected once the extension comes into use.
