JLR sales growth slammed into reverse gear

Jaguar Land Rover has reported record annual sales, but significant like-for-like falls in the last two months of its 2018 financial year has put the brakes on optimism at the manufacturer.

The UK’s largest automotive manufacturer achieved retail sales of 614,309 vehicles in the year to March 31, up 1.7% to a record high.

However the car-maker blamed the “continuing uncertainty over diesel” for its poor performance in the UK and Europe, where annual sales were down 12.8% and 5.3% respectively.

Felix Brautigam, Jaguar Land Rover chief commercial officer, said: “Weaker market conditions in the UK and Europe, driven by lack of consumer confidence and lower demand for diesels, are impacting our growth. But even against this backdrop it’s good to see that we have closed our financial year with record retail sales.”

Land Rover sales, which account for 70% of the company’s sales, were up 2.0% for the year, with Jaguar’s sales up 1.0%.

But looking under the bonnet provides some cause for concern. Total sales in March, the most important month of the year, were down 7.8% as the company sold 7,100 fewer cars, split almost evenly between its two marques.

This accelerated the decline seen in February, when more than 1,000 fewer cars were sold and, again, both marques saw a drop in sales.

Total Jaguar sales have fallen in five of the last six months, while January’s increase was less than 1%. The company says sales of the new E-PACE are “gathering momentum” while it has high hopes for the I-PACE, its first battery electric vehicle, which is just going on sale.

Land Rover has performed more strongly, but its fall in the last two months is notable. However it is optimistic that sales of its 18 Model Year Range Rover and Range Rover Sport “are still ramping up”.

While JLR’s domestic and European markets are struggling, its sales figures continue to be boosted by Chinese growth. Annual sales to China were up 19.9% while North American sales grew by 4.7%.

Separately, Slovakia – the home to a huge new JLR factory – is anticipating a positive influence in its trade balance surpluses when the factory near Nitra moves into production towards the end of this year.