Jaguar Land Rover sees best ever UK sales month in March
VEHICLE manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has reported its highest ever UK sales month in March, a performance attributed to new product and continued strong demand.
The Indian-owned company sold 17,773 vehicles in the UK in March, compared to 14,789 in March 2012 – an increase of 20%.
Land Rover’s sales success was led by the all-new Range Rover and Land Rover Freelander, which were up 43% and 45% respectively while the Range Rover Evoque continued to perform strongly up 9%.
The firm said the all-new Range Rover had been particularly well received with sales order books filling up quickly. In addition, reaction to the revised 2013 specification Freelander launched in Q4 2012 has been particularly positive.
Jaguar’s UK sales increase was driven primarily by the new XF Sportbrake – the estate version of its award-winning XF, which accounted for almost 23% of Jaguar’s overall UK sales during the month.
Sales of the XF saloon were said to be consistent with those of March last year. The company said the first deliveries of its new F-Type sports car set for later this month, it was confident of continued success.
Jeremy Hicks, Jaguar Land Rover UK Managing Director, said: “The strong sales performance of Jaguar Land Rover products in March has been driven by new product, considered model year updates and a strong luxury sector performance.
“The demand for the all-new Range Rover has been extremely encouraging and customers across the country are now receiving their new cars. We have also been fully prepared for the extreme weather conditions, with the Freelander Black and White special edition selling out very quickly and contributing to the rise in registrations.”
Jaguar UK sales were up 24% in the year to date and Land Rover UK up 17%, he added, and with the market launches of the all-new Range Rover Sport, the F-Type and the high performance Jaguar XJR still to come in 2013, JLR continued to be “in a very strong position”.
In total last month, UK new car registrations rose 5.9% with 394,806 registrations of new 13-plate cars.
Registrations in Q1 rose by 7.4% to 605,198 units and March marked the 13th consecutive month of growth in new car registrations, with volumes the highest since 2010 when the Scrappage Incentive Scheme supported the market.
The uplift in the market follows strong demand in private registrations, which were up 11.2% in Q1. Registrations of all sales types rose in March, and across most segments – notably the Mini and MPV segments.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said the better than expected Q1 outturn should support net growth in the market in 2013.
