Jaguar Land Rover reports sales jump 50 pct in Q2FY21; It sold 1,13,569 units

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has reported the sales report for the second quarter of the financial year 2020-21 (Q1FY21) and said that the retail sales have improved significantly compared to Q1FY21 with China sales up year-on-year. It said the impact of COVID-19 is visible.

It said, almost all of Jaguar Land Rover's retailers worldwide are now open or partially open and the company's plants have resumed production with robust protocol and guidelines to ensure that effective social distancing, hygiene and health monitoring measures are in place and all sites are COVID-19 secure.

The vehicle manufacturing plants at Solihull (UK), Halewood (UK) and Nitra (Slovakia), as well as the Engine Manufacturing Centre (UK), have now increased to a two-shift pattern to meet increasing demand.

Retail sales for the quarter ending September 30, 2020, were 1,13,569 vehicles, up over 50% from sales of 74,067 in the prior quarter, while down 11.9 per cent from pre-COVID levels a year ago. China sales were particularly encouraging, up 14.6 per cent on the prior quarter and 3.7 per cent year-on-year. The month of September also saw sales up 28.5 per cent year-on-year in China

Retail sales for other regions also significantly improved from the prior quarter, including the UK (up 231.6 per cent), Europe (up 78.8 per cent), North America (up 21.3 per cent) and Overseas (up 35.1 per cent). However, sales in these regions have not yet recovered to pre-COVID levels a year ago: UK (down 2.9 per cent), North America ( down 15.8 per cent), Europe (down 19.8 per cent) and Overseas markets (down 30.3 per cent).

Felix Brautigam, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Commercial Officer, said, "COVID-19 and second lockdowns continue to impact the global auto industry but we are pleased to see sales recovering across our markets. In China, the first region to come out of lockdown, our performance has been particularly encouraging. But we are also seeing strong improvement versus the preceding quarter in other key markets, with sales up more than 50 per cent worldwide." He added, "The recovery has been demand-led and we are delighted that we have been able to reduce stocks to achieve ideal levels in most markets, despite the ongoing pandemic, to support a healthier and more profitable business for Jaguar Land Rover and its retailers."

The launch of the exciting new Land Rover Defender continued and sales gained pace in the quarter, rising to 4,508 units in September 2020. Despite the pandemic, the company continues to launch planned new products and announced the new model year Jaguar F-PACE and Range Rover Velar, both now with mild-hybrid (MHEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants. This brings the number of models offering PHEVs and MHEVs to seven each, with one more PHEV and four further MHEVs to be announced this year.

Jaguar Land Rover will be releasing its financial results for the quarter to September 30, 2020, later this month. The company ended September with about £3 billion of cash and short-term deposits, up £0.3 billion, primarily reflecting positive free cash flow as expected in the quarter. Total liquidity was about £5 billion, including the company's £1.9 billion revolving credit facility, which remains undrawn.