News : JLR posts strong sales in February

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Jaguar Land Rover sold 26,855 vehicles during February, an increase of 3% versus the same period last year. During the first two months of the year, Jaguar Land Rover sold 61,732 vehicles, up 18%. February sales were up in almost every major market: 20% in Asia Pacific, 20% in North America, 15% in the UK, and 6% in Europe. In China, sales were down by 22% reflecting the Chinese New Year falling in February this year and January last year.

For the first two months of the year, Jaguar Land Rover has seen strong sales performance across all of its major markets, with increases in Asia Pacific (32%), the UK (30%), North America (22%), China (20%) and Europe (8%). In February, Jaguar sold 4595 vehicles in February (up 27%), with increased sales of the XF (up 37%) and the XJ (up 15%), reflecting new smaller engines and all-wheel drive options as well as the XF Sportbrake. In the first two months of the year, Jaguar sold 10,354 vehicles (up 34%) with the UK, Germany, South Africa and China performing particularly well.

Land Rover sold 22,260 vehicles in February, down slightly when compared to February 2012, reflecting the Chinese New Year holiday period. It saw increased sales of Freelander (up 26%) and Range Rover (up 46%). For the first two months of the year, Land Rover has sold 51,378 vehicles (up 15%) with notable performances in USA, Germany, South Africa and Middle Eastern & North African Importers.

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Keith Adams

26 Comments

  1. Good to see Jaguar making ground here. At last its making cars the market actually want/need – 4 wheel drive for the US snow belt and estate versions of the XF where the market for large estates outstrips that for saloons.

  2. The challenge for Jaguar has been getting people to look at them – better built than a Mercedes (not difficult I know), more interesting than an Audi.

    The improvements in styling and engine range have helped so much.

  3. GOOD NEWS ALL ROUND. The XF Sportbrake betrays its American (Lincoln LS) origins by being big and brutal looking on the outside, small on the inside. But then, BM 1’s and 3’s aren’t exactly spacious, and that doesn’t seem to hold them back. I’ve seen a few XFSB’s on the road already, so it’s working out in the UK. Evoques are like lampposts – they’re everywhere! *except, perhaps, in the countryside

  4. I’m starting to see a few more new JLR models on the road around here, which was Mercedes Central until comparatively lately. I think people are starting to notice, although residuals are still a bit scary.

  5. I think the Lincoln/S Type platform has been manipulated so much by Jaguar that it is no longer recognisable as such in the XF – The XF uses the same modular set of suspension components as the XK and XJ.

  6. I wouldn’t call the Sportbrake brutually styled. Fine looking car.

    Be interesting to see how the F type sells and the impact on XK.

    Jag need to get the Co2 figures down a bit more on the 2.2 deisel in order to drive more UK sales to company/lease users

  7. Who really cares about C02 figures if the car is desirable?
    If you have choice in the company car parc would the tax deter you? if you get what you are given fair enough.

    Is there really a bad car in the JLR range? i think the germans should be worried,they have model saturation i.e 5 series saloon/coupe/GT and the same goes for Audi and Mercedes which while giving choice means bespoke panelwork and expense and therefore nibbles thier own cheese.

    Look at BMWs profits in an range/model/sales ratio and the same with JLR cars.

  8. Hopefully the sheep will come away from their german cars and buy more Jaguars. Lets hope the driving standards improve too. Do german cars come with instructions, “you must speed, tailgate, drive aggressively, and be an arrogant confrontational twit.”?

  9. The success of JLR seems to keep building and long may it continue. I really hope they develop a replacement for the X Type…

    Re: the above photos – the blonde in the second one is better than her on the top one!

  10. The Germans have nothing to worry about, as it seems that all the prestige manufacturers are having a good time.

    It’s the mid range so called volume manufacturers who are suffering, stuttering sales, at far lower margins than the Germans and JLR are managing.

    The Evoque has been an extraordinary success, well over 100,000 made last year, when production was still being ramped up. And at a fat price too.

  11. Jaguars continued success is great for the UK and good to think that it is in part thanks to ex-MGR engineers too who went to JLR after the unpleasantness in 2005.

  12. @10,If you take the latest 1 series as a marker,it is just plain ugly,the 3 just about alright looking,after that there is nothing else appealing in the range.

    No one can ever question how well they drive which is the only selling point,but a Focus drives as good as does an Astra and golf so why bother with a small BMW at all?

    Im singling out BMW out of the rest of the german marques because they all look so dull,not even opel have a bad looking car in thier entire range-unless you believe Auto Express.

  13. just imagine if BL had done this all those years ago. why do they need a skeletal looking woman to advertise the evoque though, she looks ill!!!

  14. Nice to see. The new RR Sport is out soon so should keep the momentum coming. Look forward to the new X Type. Might finally give the Audi A4, BMW 3 and Mercedes C a run for their money. That segment is even knocking Passat and Mondeo out becuase the leasing deals mean they make sense for user choosers compared to main stream brands. Could I hope for a Qashqai spin off (like Rover TCV) to wear a Rover badge and sell through Land Rover dealers please? It would be a huge hit if priced from 18k. Will X Type be front or rear wheel drive and what is the platform – is it based on Evoque which is itself based on Focus MK2?

  15. @ Simon W:

    It is highly likely that the new X Type replacement will be rear-wheel drive, with a possible four-wheel drive option for some market territories, in-line with the recent XF and XJ.

    The platform could potentially be a further development of that used for the current XF. However, it is more likely to be an all-new design that will also form the basis of the next generation Land Rover Freelander 3 and also the second generation Range Rover Evoque – hence the shared costs of offering a four-wheel drive option for the X Type’s replacement in certain markets. This would accord with Jaguar Land Rover’s plan to reduce the number of platforms it uses from seven down to four, as reported two years ago in several ‘quality’ publications.

    There may well be further opportunities to utilise this platform beyond these applications for other variants, possibly in line with what you suggest…

  16. The thing I’m wondering is where the factory capacity will come from! How big is Castle Bromwich, if they going to build the new X-type there?

  17. When you compare this, and MG at Longbridge, you just think ‘Mmkay what the hell is going on here?’ Soon JLR will be needing to build even more factories here to meet demand. And this begs the question, why aren’t BMW doing the same with Mini, instead of farming work out to Austria? It would be nice if they actually ditched the Austrian plant, and built a bigger factory here to be faithful to the brand, and it would probably increase sales, even though shall we say the Countryman isn’t exactly pretty. There is bound to be somewhere in this country with land big enough, and cheap enough, and we certainly need the jobs!

  18. I read an interesting article yesterday about Jaguar not getting on the diesel train pointing out how many 6 series are diesel powered. Why did Jaguar never fit the XK with the 3 litre diesel I wonder? Surely a sales winner?

  19. @Yorkie:

    There are also additional economies of scale to be enjoyed from building all variants in either the same factory or reasonably near to each other.

    I do not know the Hams Hall engine plant in the Midlands, so do not know whether there is an opportunity to expand this site by building a car assembly plant adjacent to it. What about the former Ryton works occupied by Peugeot until about five years ago? What became of it? There is a good relationship in place between BMW Group and Peugeot in terms of the small engine design both companies use in their smaller models, and I would not be surprised to see them working together beyond this in the future.

  20. @ Dolomitefan:

    “Why did Jaguar never fit the XK with the 3 litre diesel I wonder? Surely a sales winner?”

    Perhaps this is one of the “eight surprises” that Jaguar Land Rover will be announcing towards the end of this year, even though the current generaton XK model is likely to be replaced in less than two years’ time.

    The latest SDV8 engine, however, is unlikely to be offered in the current XK model as it is a very tall engine design (which is why the 4.4-litre version of the TDV8 engine was never offered in the current generation Range Rover Sport, when introduced in the Range Rover in 2010).

  21. @20 and @22

    I drive past the former Ryton plant most days. After being bulldozed to the ground, it looks like it’s being turned into another distribution centre.

    @19 My understanding is that the 3.0 V6 Diesel won’t fit in the XK. It’s not just the basic engine, turbos and exhaust, but also the inter-cooler.

  22. Why bother with a diesel XK just because BMW have one? this isnt a car on a 100,000 model per annum production run,its a genuine sports car.

    Besides, it would be a nonsense to tool it up for E6 diesel emissions.

  23. The answer to dolomitefan #19 almost certainly is that it would be a waste of time . The market for a diesel BMW 6 series is very limited – as a guide, in the UK only 2300 have been sold in 6 years of production . The 6 is in any event a lemon in the same league as the earlier 840/850 which could not be given away at any price

  24. Looks like Europe is the slowest to take up Jag (%age increases). Until they crack that market the future remains uncertain.
    Uncertain but far from without hope.

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