Press Report : Jaguar Land Rover bucks trend by reporting rising sales

Graeme Brown, Birmingham Post, 7th September, 2010

Jaguar and Land Rover bucked a declining trend in UK car sales last month – and posted substantial rises. Sales of Jaguars rose by almost 11 per cent and Land Rover sales increased by two per cent. Meanwhile there was a 17 per cent fall in new car registrations in August across the UK.

The continued growth of both marques, owned by Indian car giant Tata Motors, means that, with two-thirds of the year gone, Land Rover has recorded a larger sales increase than any other manufacturer – more than 61 per cent – while year-to-date Jaguar sales are down by nearly four per cent.
Experts have put the general fall in sales down to the earlier boost provided by the Government’s Car Scrappage Scheme last year. Automotive industry expert Professor David Bailey, of Coventry University Business School, said that after the company recorded record global profits of £233.8 million for April, May and June, there was no surprise in the rise in international demand.

Professor Bailey added: ‘Obviously you are comparing Land Rover sales against a low base last year. They were hit very badly by the recession. Nevertheless, they have a fantastic product range and their 2010 models are doing very well. You would expect international sales to do well, but what has been a real surprise is how sales have grown in the UK. But basically the company makes class-leading models.”

Across the UK a total of 55,305 new cars were registered in August 2010, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. The decline last month followed a fall in July this year – the first for 12 months. After a huge dip in sales in the first half of 2009, registrations for the second half of last year soared when the car scrappage scheme was introduced. With the scheme now over, it is expected that sales for the second half of 2010 would show a decline.

SMMT Chief Executive Paul Everitt said: ‘New car registrations were down in August and conditions will remain challenging through the rest of the year.”

[Source: Birmingham Post]

Clive Goldthorp

6 Comments

  1. I still think that there is a room for a 4.5 metre long Jaguar – a shortened XF would be easier to park. Take some length out of the rear doors and a give it a shorter boot (just large enough for the groceries). Alex.

  2. Here are some stats in support of my previous point:
    2010 XF 4961 mm long
    2010 XJ 5247 mm long (try parking this one – it’s longer than my X40 with a towbar on it)
    2010 XK 4794 mm long.
    2010 BMW 3 Series 4531 mm long
    ARG Mini 3000 mm long
    BMW MINI 3700 mm long
    Alex.

  3. How about an XJ Coupe – that would be lovely. To me a coupe isn’t a coupe unless it has only two doors. I don’t get this four door coupe business. I know that it’s the shape which makes a car a coupe, not the number of doors, but (any Rover Coupe excepted) it’s the number of doors which counts not the shape.

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