New annual sales record for JLR

The luxury car company, which has its engine manufacturing centre at the i54 to the north of Wolverhampton, has seen sales more than triple since 2009.

JLR sold 178,601 Jaguars last year, up 20 per cent (15,079) on the year, and 442,508 Land Rovers – a two per cent rise (40,618).

The company’s seventh successive year of sales growth was driven by the introduction of new models into new and existing segments, increased uptake of its Wolverhampton-made Ingenium clean diesel and petrol engines and the development of its manufacturing operations around the world to increase capacity.

Jaguar sales were driven by the Jaguar F-PACE, XE and XF, including the all-new XF Sportbrake.

For Land Rover the best seller for the year was the Discovery Sport, retailing 126,078 vehicles. Also notable were sales of the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport, selling more than 190,000 vehicles in 2017.

During 2017 Jaguar Land Rover celebrated 160 global awards, which included the F-PACE being named the ‘World Car of The Year’.

Growth in China and the USA helped offset the impact of difficult market conditions in the European, UK and overseas markets. China was the company’s largest sales region in 2017 with annual sales of 146,399, up 23 per cent year-on-year.

The UK also showed a solid performance with sales of 117,748 Jaguars and Land Rovers, on a par with the 2016 record and bucking the overall trend in the company’s domestic market.

Andy Goss, JLR group sales operations director, said: “We have once again delivered year-on-year sales increases thanks to a world-class product range and new models such as the E-PACE and Velar, as well as China-specific models such as the XFL.

“But we are facing tough times in key markets such as the UK where consumer confidence and diesel taxes will hit us.”

Looking ahead to 2018, MrGoss said: “While there will be further challenges facing our industry, there are also exciting times ahead for Jaguar Land Rover. We continue to over-proportionally invest in delivering clean, safe, smart technologies and new vehicles to our customers.”

This year sales will ramp up for forthcoming models going on sale in the coming months including Jaguar’s new E-PACE compact performance SUV, the refreshed Range Rover and Range Rover Sport and the Jaguar I-PACE electric performance SUV.

JLR now employs almost 42,000 people globally and supports around 240,000 more through our dealerships, suppliers and local businesses. Manufacturing is centred in the UK, with additional plants in China, Brazil, Austria and Slovakia.

It will spend more than £4 billion in the coming year on new product creation and capital expenditure.