JLR second quarter sales motoring as supplies improve

Luxury car manufacturer, JLR, continued to drive its sales performance during the second quarter, it has confirmed.

The manufacturer, which has production plants at Halewood in Merseyside and Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands, also predicts positive free cash flow of around £300m for the quarter to September 23, 2023, when its financial figures are released early next month.

The Indian-owned group has published its wholesale and retail figures for the reporting period. Wholesale sales are the finished cars JLR sells as a business, as opposed to retails which are vehicles customers buy from retailers.

Wholesale volumes in the period were 96,817 units – excluding the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China JV – up 29% compared with the same quarter a year ago, and up four per cent compared with the first quarter ended June 30, 2023, notwithstanding the annual two-week summer plant shutdown.

Wholesale volumes for the first half of the financial year were 190,070, up 29% compared with the prior year.

Retail sales for the second quarter were 106,561 units – including the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China JV – up 21% compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Retail volumes were higher in all regions year-on-year: Overseas up 56%, North America up 32%, Europe up 16%, UK up nine per cent and China up seven per cent.

The order book continues to reflect strong demand for the group’s products with 168,000 client orders at the end of the second quarter, reducing from 185,000 at the end of the first quarter, as expected, with increased order fulfilment.

Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender demand remains particularly strong, representing 77% of the order book.