UK’s biggest car maker, Jaguar Land Rover on Monday (8) reported total retail sales of 57,114 vehicles in September down 12.3 per cent year-on-year despite strong sales for new models including the Range Rover Velar, the Jaguar I-PACE and E-PACE.
Sales in China declined by 46.2 per cent, as ongoing market uncertainty resulting from import duty changes and continued trade tensions held back consumer demand.
Jaguar Land Rover sales were down a modest 0.8 per cent in the UK and 4.7 per cent in Europe, which saw large industry declines of 20.5 per cent in the UK and 31 per cent in Germany primarily relating to the timing of new WLTP homologation rules as well as reduced diesel demand.
In North America, Jaguar Land Rover sales were 6.9 per cent lower, largely reflecting lower industry sales (down 5.5 per cent) and reduced incentives on Jaguar sedans, although Land Rover had a record September with sales up 7.3 per cent.
Strong sales of new models including the electric Jaguar I-PACE, the Jaguar E-PACE compact SUV, and the Range Rover Velar helped offset slower sales of older models, such as the Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport, the company said in a release.
“As a business, we are continuing to experience challenging conditions in some of our key markets. Customer demand in China, in particular, has struggled to recover following changes in import tariffs in July and intensifying competition on price, while ongoing global negotiations on potential trade agreements have dampened purchase considerations. Despite this, we expect lower tariffs on UK imports to be beneficial over the full year,” said Jaguar Land Rover Chief Commercial Officer Felix Brautigam.
“For Jaguar, we are continuing to see positive customer response to new products to market. The all-electric I-PACE and the sporty E-PACE compact SUV in particular, which have only recently joined our line-up in China, are driving demand globally.
“While sales of Land Rover models ahead of upcoming new and refreshed models are lower, we are encouraged to see strong customer demand for the new Range Rover Velar and Range Rover and Range Rover Sport Plug-in Hybrid variants as we head into the winter months,” noted Brautigam.
As part of the company’s continued strategy for profitable growth, Jaguar Land Rover is focused on achieving operational efficiencies and will align supply to reflect fluctuating demand globally as required, the company said.
