Motoring: Land Rover eclipses German rivals with solid six months of growth
LAND ROVER has enjoyed one of its strongest ever half years in the UK, easily eclipsing stable mate Jaguar and all its German rivals.
The company saw a near 20.5% increase in new registrations over the January to June period, with 36,164 vehicles registered (2014 H1: 30,019). In June, the performance was above average with 5,044 vehicles registered (2014: 4,027), a rise of 25.25%.
The XE-factor looks as though it is now starting to be felt at Jaguar as its June performance saw a 22.77% increase in sales compared with the same month last year – 2,200 against 1,792. This is expected to continuing rising over the next few months as orders for the new car start to be registered by dealers.
An indication buyers may have been holding back is reflected in Jaguar’s six monthly figures, which show modest growth of 0.6% on the same period last year – 9,882 against 9,826. Analysts will be paying close attention to the figures as H2 progresses to measure how popular the XE is.
Jaguar’s German rivals – Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz – all saw growth over the six month period, with respective growth percentages of 2.68%, 6.98% and 17.12%. During June, Mercedes was up 16.5%, BMW 14.5% and Audi 3.86%. The latter could be explained by the arrival in the UK of a new A4 during the second half.
Ford maintained its position as leading manufacturer, with a market share of 12.87% during the first half, down slightly on H1 2014 (13.48%) despite the fact it sold more cars during the H1 this year. In June, it sold 33,055 cars, giving it a market share of 12.82%. This was down very slightly the same month last year.
Vauxhall retained second spot at 10.34% (2014 H1: 11%) – the only other manufacturer in double figures. In June, it sold 30,022 new cars, an increase of 6.07% on the same month last year.
Volkswagen enjoyed a strong six months, seeing a 8.5% rise over the same period last year while Toyota saw growth of 5.64 over the six months – way better than rival Honda, which was one of the few manufacturers to see a decline (-7.57%).
Taking the plaudits though was MINI, which saw a 46.23% growth during the six months to June, with 31,304 cars registered (2014 H1: 21,408 – although this was influenced by the run-off of an old model). In June, the BMW-owned brand saw 7,166 cars registered an increase of 31.13% on the same month last year.
In the luxury sector, Aston Martin saw H1 growth of almost 3%, although June’s figure was flat on the same month last year at 93 cars (2014: 94). By comparison, Bentley saw a near 10% decline over the first six months compared with the same period last year.
