Jaguar Land Rover sales fall further after China downturn
Worldwide sales were down 4.1 per cent for Jaguar Land Rover last month as it continued to suffer from the downturn in the Chinese economy.
The luxury car maker, which has its engine manufacturing centre at the i54 north of Wolverhampton, enjoyed strong sales in the UK and North America.
It sold 38,288 cars in February – 26,053 Land Rovers and 12,235 Jaguars. Land Rover was down 8.1 per cent but Jaguar sales were ahead by 5.8 per cent.
Since April worldwide sales for JLR are down by 5.4 per cent at 502,020.
Strong sales of the Jaguar I-PACE and E-PACE and the refreshed Range Rover and Range Rover Sport were offset by overall weak customer demand in China with a 47.6 per cent slump experienced.
Sales of the new Range Rover Evoque are expected to ramp up over the coming months.
Sales in the UK were up 11.3 per cent for the month and Europe was up 1.1 per cent.
Felix Brautigam, Jaguar Land Rover chief commercial officer, said: “In the face of ongoing macro-economic challenges being felt by the automotive industry, particularly in China, our strong sales growth in North America, UK and Europe reflect continued demand for our exciting product line-up and two strong brands. Encouragingly, all three regions posted sales growth against an industry decline. In North America high customer demand even resulted in the region’s best ever February sales numbers.
“Demand for the sporty compact E-PACE and the all-electric I-PACE powered growth for the Jaguar brand in key regions. After many awards and media accolades from around the world seeing the I-PACE named European Car of the Year makes us very proud. This recognition highlights an appreciation for Jaguar’s innovation by automotive experts and customers alike – as it was in its founding years. We also expect a further boost with the refreshed XE coming to market now, which turned out almost like a new car and definitely worth a close look.
“Despite strong sales of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, we saw a dip in sales for the Land Rover brand during the month. However, we can expect improvement as we launch the all new refined, compact yet sophisticated Range Rover Evoque with bold technology innovation, hybrid powertrain and space-efficient platform, pre-orders for which are promising.”
JLR recently announced it was to halt work at its engine plant for a week in the wake of Brexit. Production will pause i54 factory between April 8 and 12 along with car plants at Castle Bromwich, Solihull and Halewood.
It was announced in January that JLR plans to cut 4,500 jobs as part of £2.5 billion cost savings.
JLR employs 44,000 workers in the UK and management, marketing and administrative roles are expected to be hardest hit in the new wave of job losses.The company launched a voluntary redundancy programme following its job cuts announcement.
Despite the cuts it will invest in manufacturing new electric drive units at Wolverhampton.
