Jaguar Land Rover set for record results
JAGUAR Land Rover is today expected to confirm its remarkable transition from a business begging for a Government handout to one generating pre-tax profits of around £1.5bn.
The figures, if confirmed, would be a record for a business that just two years ago was contemplating closing one of its main production facilities in the Midlands.
Now it has a new £355m engine plant under development at the i54 site in South Staffordshire, has signed a major joint venture agreement with Chinese manufacturer Chery, is recruiting thousands of workers to meet demand for its products and has a raft of new models in the pipeline.
Reports suggest the Indian-owned company could be set to reveal profits of between £1.5bn to £1.6bn, up from £1.1bn last year, which itself was a record for the business.
To put the figures into perspective, the profits amount to more than Tata Motors originally paid Ford for the whole business back in 2008. Back then, many people thought Tata had already paid over the odds at £1.15bn.
The record performance is due to global popularity of the company’s vehicles in particular, the Halewood-produced Range Rover Evoque. The small SUV has won awards around the planet and the firm has struggled to meet demand for the model – so much so that the entire 2012 production run is already sold out.
Jaguar also has the new XF Sportbrake ready to go on sale this autumn, while in April it announced it is to put its C-X16 sports car concept into full production at Castle Bromwich – a move revealed exclusively by TheBusinessDesk.com – badged as the F-Type.
Jaguar is also introducing two additional forced-induction petrol engines to its range for 2013; the new 3.0-litre V6 Supercharged Petrol, and the four-cylinder 2.0-litre I4 Turbocharged Petrol. Their introduction is likely to further enhance customer choice in key global markets.
As the company looks to develop still further, it will continue its focus on high growth such as India and China – the latter being set to overtake the United States as the company’s largest market.
The situation is also encouraging for the hundreds of component companies which supply the manufacturer.
Earlier this month, JLR announced it was spending an additional £1bn with UK suppliers over the next four years to keep up with demand for the Evoque.
