JLR car sales up nearly 70pc
Jaguar Land Rover sales for the three month to the end of June were up 68.1 per cent from a year before.
The luxury car maker, which had its engine manufacturing centre at the i54 north of Wolverhampton, sold 124,537 vehicles worldwide.
The rise on June 2020 reflects the continuing recovery in demand from the Covid 19 pandemic, but sales were lower than demand due to microchip semiconductor supply issues affecting the global auto industry.
In the UK sales were up 186.9 per cent, Europe 124 per cent and North America 50.5 per cent.
Sales of all models, other than Jaguar XE, were higher year-on-year and sales of the new Land Rover Defender continued to climb with 17,194 vehicles sold in the first quarter of the financial year.
Chief executive Thierry Bollore said: "We are pleased to see the gradual economic recovery from the pandemic with customers returning to our showrooms driving double-digit year-on-year sales growth in all regions, demonstrating the continuing appeal of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. While the present semiconductor supply shortages continue to be a challenge for the industry, we are encouraged by the strong demand we see for our vehicles."
JLR expect microchip supply shortages in the second quarter to the end of September will be greater than in the first quarter, potentially resulting in wholesale volumes about 50 per cent lower than planned.
It expects the situation will start to improve in the second half of the financial year.
Jaguar sales in the three months were 29,152 – up 55.2 per cent – and Land Rover 95,385 - up 72.5 per cent.
