Global sales offer major opportunities for JLR suppliers
THE continuing global growth of Jaguar Land Rover offers West Midland supply firms the opportunity to benefit from the manufacturer’s rising export programme.
JLR has announced a sales increase in excess of 30% for the second quarter of the year, underlining its expanding global presence.
It has also announced 1,000 new jobs at its Lode lane plant in Solihull while a further 750 will be created at its new engine factory on the Black Country Enterprise Zone site at i54 in South Staffordshire.
The firm has also begun assembling Freelanders at a site near Pune in India while the company’s new Range Rover Evoque has now gone on sale in the sub-continent.
There is also the likelihood in the not too distant future of a joint venture agreement with a Chinese partner to produce vehicles there.
Company owner, India’s Tata Motors, said the strong quarter had helped propel sales during the first six months of the year to 130,090 units, a growth of 13.8% on the corresponding period last year. The firm said the results reflected better product and market mix allied with strong growth in China and Russia.
Sales for the quarter ending September 30 totalled £2.928bn, a growth of 30.3% over the £2.247bn recorded in the corresponding quarter last year.
The company has also been praised by the Prime Minister for its efforts to create new jobs.
The global sales figures follow Land Rover’s announcement of a strong sales pick-up in the UK during October, which saw new registrations of the iconic 4x4s rise by more than 60%. The performance was helped by sales of the new Evoque, which topped 7,700 by the end of September.
Tata said cost pressures and impact of global exchange rates resulted in a marginal reduction in the operating margins to 14.9%, while an operating profit (EBITDA) of £437m in the quarter represented growth of 17.2% over the £372m recorded in the corresponding quarter of last year.
The pre-tax profit for the quarter stands at £287m (2010: £264m), while the figure after tax is £238m (2010: £243m).
