Jaguar Land Rover see sales increase by more than 20% thanks to global demand and improved production
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have seen a dramatic increase in their sales for the full year ending 31 March 2024. Published today (09/04/2024), the luxury car manufacturer has released their end of year sales report with some impressive figures despite the many issues they have faced in recent years.
JLR's Reimagine strategy sets out the groups aim to deliver a "sustainability-rich vision of modern luxury by design". The business has undergone much transformation in recent times, largely focused around production, as they strive to become carbon net zero by 2039 across supply, production and operation. In a bold statement, JLR claim that, by the end of this decade, Range Rover, Discovery and Defender will all have a pure electric model available and the Jaguar line-up will be entirely electric. With vehicles plants across several countries and a battery assembly centre based in the UK, it is apparent that JLR are serious when it comes to offering full EVs to its customers.
JLR sales increase
The published report details that for the full year ended 31 March 2024:
- Wholesale volumes were 401,303 (up 25%)
- Retail sales were 431,733 (up 22%)
- Range Rover wholesale volumes increase by 22% to 58,280 compared to the previous year
- Defender was up by 5% to 28,702
- Jaguar was up by 39% to 13,528
The full report is expected to be published in May 2024.
The UK market saw the biggest sales increase with a staggering 32% increase. North America was shortly behind with 21% and 16% for other Overseas.
Image from Daily Mail Online.
Issues JLR have been facing
In the UK, JLR have been facing huge battles that have been having an impact on their sales. Of late, the rise in thefts of Range Rovers by organised crime groups have seen insurance premiums for Range Rover products sky rocket. Some drivers are paying over £10,000 per year, where others have not even been able to acquire cover for cars that are often over the £100k list price mark. Using state of the art kit that is readily available online, thieves can unlock and drive away a Range Rover in under a minute, before making a new copy of a key.
In response, JLR have been tirelessly working on improving their vehicle security. Understandably, details on how they are doing this has not been widely published. Similarly, JLR have launched their own insurance product aimed at assisting drivers obtain reasonably priced cover for their cars, although there have been many reports of JLR's own insurers failing to offer cover for some drivers. This is been prominent in areas where there are high numbers of thefts, including London and the South East. Ultimately, this has seen the second hand car value for JLR plummet, with many customers losing huge amounts of money in a very short space of time.
Following the recent increase in sales, JLR have attributed some of it to the improved production process. Since Covid-19, JLR has been hit hard with the microchip and parts shortages, with some cars taking upwards of 2 years to build. The report has not been specific on how production has improved, but it can be deduced that the global recovery from the pandemic and the improved availability of integral components has greatly assisted.
