Tata Motors’ wholly owned subsidiary — Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has reported retail sales of totalled 592,708 vehicles in 2018, down 4.6% compared to 2017’s record year. The introduction of the Jaguar E-PACE and I-PACE led to Jaguar’s best ever annual sales results in 2018 up 1.2% to 180,833. However, this was more than offset by market weakness in China impacting on sales of established models. The lower sales in China (-21.6%) were partially offset by stronger sales in North America 7.2% and Overseas (7.3%). Weaker market conditions primarily relating to diesel and Brexit also weighed on sales in the UK (-1.5%) and Europe (-7.8%). The all new Range Rover Evoque has now been announced and will be going on sale later this year.
Retail sales for the month of December were 52,160, down 6.4% year-on-year primarily reflecting ongoing challenging market conditions in China (down 42.4%) as slowing economic growth and trade tensions with the US continue to impact automotive sales volumes across the industry, which were lower for the sixth consecutive month.
Jaguar Land Rover continues to work closely with retailers in China to respond to the present market conditions. Jaguar Land Rover generated strong December retail sales growth in North America (21.4%), Europe (7.6%) and the UK (7.8%), outperforming the industry in each of these markets, while sales in overseas markets fell 9.6% year-on-year.
Tata Motors is India’s largest automobile company. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, the business comprising the two iconic British brands.