JLR sales hit by semiconductor shortage

The luxury car manufacturer, which has its engine manufacturing centre at the i54 to the north of Wolverhampton, saw a gradual improvement in chip supply leading to improved production and wholesale volumes compared to the previous quarter.

This is expected to continue through the next financial year.

Underlying demand for Jaguar Land Rover cars remains strong with record orders in the quarter.

Wholesale volumes were 76,526 units – up 11 per cent – and production volumes were 82,722 units – ahead 15 per cent – in the period.

Compared to the previous quarter, wholesale volumes were up by 23 per cent for Defender, 14 per cent for Range Rover Sport and 29 per cent for Discovery. The quarter was also noteworthy for the first deliveries of the new Range Rover, with 1,910 wholesales with the previous model now running out.

Retail sales for the quarter were 79,008 vehicles, down one per cent from the previous quarter ending December 31 and 36 per cent (44,475 units) from the same quarter a year ago.

Retails were higher compared to the previous quarter in the UK (up 34 per cent) and North America (up five per cent, but were lower in China (down 18 per cent) and Europe (down 17 per cent).

Wholesales for the year to the end of March were 294,182, down 15 per cent on the year and retail sales were 376,381, down 14 per cent.

As of March 31 the total order book has grown to more than 168,000 cars, up around 14,000 from the end of 2021. Demand for the new Range Rover and Defender are particularly strong with over 45,500 and 40,000 orders respectively.

Lennard Hoornik, JLR chief commercial officer, said: "The successful new Range Rover launch, as well as the momentum gained from Defender, has resulted in a steadily increasing order bank, now at a record 168,000 units. The customer response to the first deliveries of new Range Rover is strong and we remain optimistic for the future, despite the geo-political and macro-economic challenges facing the industry at present.”

The conflict in Ukraine did not materially impact wholesale volumes in the quarter and the impact on production was also limited due to active management of the parts supply chain, including developing alternatives for the relatively small number of parts that are sourced from the affected countries.

JLR expects to report audited results for the last financial year during May. It expects to report positive cashflow in line with expectations