Jaguar Land Rover keeps pedal to the metal after lockdowns

A second successive quarter of sales growth has reinforced Jaguar Land Rover’s recovery from lockdowns during the depths of the pandemic last year.

While the 128,469 vehicle sales for the final quarter of 2020 were down 9 per cent compared with 2019, the figure was a 13.1 per cent increase on the previous quarter — itself an impressive three-month spell, in which sales increased by more than 53 per cent on the second quarter.

For the calendar year, sales were down 23.6 per cent on 2019 with 425,974 vehicles sold. Sales were heavily affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with factories forced to shut for two months in spring.

Sales in China in the final quarter were up by 20.2 per cent from the previous quarter and by 19.1 per cent year-on-year. Sales in Europe and North America were down by 16.3 per cent and 17.2 per cent, respectively, year-on-year. Electric vehicles made up 43.3 per cent of the company’s sales for 2020.

Felix Brautigam, chief commercial officer, said that 2020 had been “a year of two halves and, although Covid-19 continues to significantly impact the global auto industry, we are delighted to end the year with a second consecutive quarter of sales recovery”.

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