Jaguar Land Rover sales plunge by over 20 per cent in 2020

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) suffered a considerable drop in sales during 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic’s continued impact.

The British firm sold 425,974 cars in total across the globe during 2020, which represented a 23.6 per cent decrease on the previous year’s figure. Of this, 102,494 sales were from Jaguar, while Land Rover vehicles accounted for 323,480 sales. These represented declines of 36.5 and 18.3 per cent respectively on 2019’s numbers.

Felix Brautigam, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Commercial Officer, said: “2020 was a year of two halves and, although Covid-19 continues to significantly impact the global auto industry, we are delighted to end the year with a second consecutive quarter of sales recovery. Our performance in China, the region least impacted by Covid-19 in the most recent quarter, has been particularly encouraging with our sales there growing on both a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis. Other markets are also showing strong signs of recovery, despite second Covid waves across the globe.”

Tata-owned JLR was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 and the resulting industry-wide shutdown, though some promising growth has been showcased in the final quarter of the year. Combined, the firm sold 128,469 cars in the final three months of 2020 – a 13.1 per cent increase on the figures recorded for the previous financial quarter. However, this still represented a nine per cent drop year-on-year.

JLR’s fortunes were boosted by strong sales in China for the final quarter of the year which rose 19.1 per cent year-on-year, though registrations in Europe fell by 16.3 per cent in the same year. Jaguar’s I-Pace continued to be popular too, with final quarter sales of 7,805 representing a 69.3 per cent year-on-year growth.

Brautigam added: “We are well-placed in keeping our retailers open for business with online sales solutions, even when their doors are closed through lockdowns. This is also evidenced by the Land Rover website being ranked #1 in the most recent J.D. Power Study. An online ordering system in many markets enables people to reserve their vehicle digitally from home. Combined with safe, sanitised click and collect delivery options, this gives Jaguar and Land Rover customers ultimate convenience and flexibility.”