Land Rover announces record UK sales

SOLIHULL-based Land Rover saw its best-ever sales year in the UK in 2012, figures out today have shown.

The Land Rover brand sold 54,480 vehicles last year – up almost 25% on the previous year – and taking a 27% share of its market segment.

The success was driven by the first full year of sales for the Range Rover Evoque, with 18,119 of the vehicles heading out of UK showrooms. The performance makes it Land Rover’s biggest selling product in this market.

Overall, Jaguar Land Rover sold 68,586 cars in 2012, up 19.17% on 2011 with both brands retailing more vehicles in 2012 than in the previous year.

The Land Rover Discovery continued to sell well with sales up 7.4% and the brand’s flagship product, the Range Rover, posted sales of almost 4,000 vehicles prior to its replacement by an all-new version.

First customer deliveries for new vehicle begin this month and the Indian-owned firm said many dealers were already reporting full order books for the next nine months and beyond.

UK registrations for Jaguar cars increased 2.4% to 14,105 units, despite increasingly competitive market conditions. The revised Jaguar XF saloon led the charge with a 10% sales increase compared to 2011. The XF outperformed the segment by some margin and its 22% market share puts it ahead of the Mercedes Benz E-Class and Audi A6 in terms of sales volume.

The firm said sales of the recently introduced estate version, the XF Sportbrake, had also gotten off to an impressive start, securing an 11% market share in December with further growth predicted in 2013.  
 
The Jaguar XJ flagship saloon also performed solidly in a segment, which, overall, reduced by over 10% in 2012. With a market share of almost 21% the luxury saloon claimed the number two spot in its segment, outperforming the BMW 7-Series and Audi A8.
The Jaguar XK sports car notched up a 26.5% share of its market segment. The firm will be hoping for an even better showing in this segment when the all-new F-Type two-seater sports car goes on sale later this year.

Jeremy Hicks, JLR UK Managing Director, said: “2012 was a successful year for Jaguar and Land Rover in the UK despite an increasingly competitive market. We look forward to building on this performance in 2013 with the introduction of more new products – including the All-New Range Rover and the Jaguar F-Type.”