Jaguar Land Rover enjoys bumper August to outstrip growth of new car market

JAGUAR and Land Rover have continued to outperform the UK new car market with both brands enjoying a bumper August.

Jaguar, helped by the launch of the new F-Type sports car, saw new registrations grow more than 46% last month – the highest growth anywhere for an established manufacturer. In total, 260 new cars were registered last month against 178 for the same month last year.

Land Rover, which will soon be buoyed by the launch to market of the new Range Rover Sport and a facelifted Discovery, was not far behind its stablemate with growth of 36.4% – again well above the UK average. The 4×4 brand sold 806 vehicles during August (2012: 591).

There was also continued good news for the sector as a whole with the market growing 10.9% in August – the 18th straight month of growth. Even more encouraging, only about 3% of annual registrations occur in August ahead of September’s plate change, which typically accounts for around 17% of full year registrations.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said: “UK new car registrations have now risen consecutively for a year and a half. Private and fleet buyers are clearly capitalising on attractive deals and new technologies against a backdrop of increasing economic confidence.

“Ahead of the September plate-change, August always has far fewer registrations, but the 10.9% rise this month bodes well for the new 63-plate.”

Luxury manufacturers Aston Martin and Bentley also saw strong growth for the month with the former seeing a year on year improvement of 19.2% with 31 cars registered (2012: 26) and the VW-owned business up 139.3% with 67 cars registered (2012: 26).

BMW rose 27.6% with 4,401 vehicles registered (2012: 3,449) – its best monthly performance for some time, while its Mini subsidiary enjoyed growth of 19% with 1,415 cars registered (2012: 1,189).

Ford maintained its leading market share of 13.56%, with 8,940 cars registered (2012: 8.094). It also claimed the bestselling vehicle of the month, the Fiesta, although the Focus slipped to fourth in the top 10, the two models being separated by the Vauxhall Astra and VW Golf.

Vauxhall remained Ford’s main challenger with a market share of 12.5%, a figure boosted by a near 20% growth in new registrations.

Richard Lowe, Head of Retail & Wholesale at Barclays, commented: “New car sales continue to motor ahead, with sales up now for the 18th month in a row. This is great news for an industry that has been carefully balancing supply with demand, and with the new plate change, growing consumer confidence and attractive packages, I think we’ll be in for a good autumn.”

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