Jaguar Land Rover achieved its most successful year in 2016, selling a record-breaking 604,009 vehicles and generating a pre-tax profit of £1.6 billion.
This represents an increase in sales of 16% and a growth in profits by 3%, and was helped by a strong final quarter where pre-tax profit was up by 17% on the same period from the year before.
The Jaguar F-Pace and Land Rover Discovery Sport acted as catalysts for this success, helping the brand grow its sales in the world’s largest markets, China and North America, by 32% and 24% respectively. Sales were also up in the UK by 16% and Europe by 13%.
Jaguar I-Pace prototype first drive
The results ensure JLR remains the UK’s biggest car manufacturer, beating the likes of Nissan, Mini and Toyota for the second year in a row.
It is now ramping up investment in new plants in the UK and also Slovakia, with plans to increase spending from £3.4bn to £4bn in the current financial year.
JLR chief executive officer Ralf Speth said: "These solid results demonstrate the appeal of our products and our ability to deliver strong, profitable and sustainable growth. We are continuing to invest significantly in new models and innovation, as shown by the new Land Rover Discovery, the forthcoming Range Rover Velar and all-electric Jaguar I-Pace, reinforcing our commitment to new technologies and providing new and compelling customer experiences.”
JLR’s first electric model, the Jaguar I-Pace, is expected to launch next year and will spearhead the car maker’s push to electrification. JLR intends 50% of its range to be all-electric or hybrid by 2020.
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Profit per car
Good on them! They may be
@scrap, have the sales really been disappointing? It depends on what their targets were. I don't think that Jaguar were naive enough to expect 3-series/A4/C-class level of sales for the XE straight out of the box.
superstevie wrote:
Quite right, they have led to the resurgence of manufacturing in the UK, and have done a lot to revitalise the manufacturing and engineering base.
As regards the sales of XE / XF and XJs, a few thoughts:
1) No question about it, premium saloon sales are rapidly declining across the board, and the world continues to grow SUV mad!
2) The XJ is already 7 years old, so till it a new one arrives, just expect it to continue to limp on, and little more.
3) The XE and XF ranges have potential to be further develeoped, but I guess the engineering resources have been very stretched at JLR. I think they need to develop an XE estate quite quickly, to be followed by a coupe and convertible. The A5 / BMW 4 series / Merc C-Class coupe's sell in decent numbers, and Jaguar should try and capture some of that. That said, I think the Estate is a bigger priority over the Coupe and Convertible.
4) As regards the XF, the Sportbrake should help sales. They should also very proactively push fleet sales, something they have been wary off.
5) They really need to push on with mild-hybrids. No point badgering on about how good the diesels are, the world has changed. Electrification is good, but TOyota and Lexus have built a great business in UK / Europe using mild-hydrids. Uptake of plug-in's is much lower than the mild-hybrids. A range of mild-hybrids across the JLR range should go down well in the US and China as well.
6) They now have the cash flow to fund the development of a smaller platform. This platform can form the basis of the next Evoque, and perhaps products even smaller than the Evoque. Jaguar could also do with developing an Audi Q2/Q3 competitor. Far better, IMO, to produce a premium Q2/Q3 competitor than trying to make money selling A1 and A3 competitors. They could either develop a bespoke platform, or partner with somebody like Mazda or perhaps PSA for this platform.
Encouraging results. Well