Jaguar Land Rover reports rise in sales, margins and investment

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover’s rocketing sales performance slowed slightly over the last 12 months, according to the carmaker’s full-year results – and there is also an underlying concern because sales dropped by nearly a third in the early months of 2015, as sales in China, Russia and Brazil slumped.

Between March 2014 and March 2015, the company sold 462,209 vehicles globally, which was up 27,898 units from the 434,311 it sold in 2013-14, a rise of a fraction under 5%. Sales growth in the previous 12-month period was 17%. JLR’s overall earnings (EBITDA) was up to £4.13 billion (Rs 40,651 crore), a significant 18% rise year-on-year because the company sold more expensive models such as the Range Rover Sport and Jaguar F-Type.

Sales in China fell as a result of a government policy to reduce overt spending, while political instability in Russia and Brazil also hit luxury car sales.

The upshot was a pre-EBITDA profit margin of 18.9%, which is ahead of the 15.8% recorded by rivals Porsche in the last fiscal year.

Profits, however, rose by just £113 million (Rs 1,112 crore) to £2.6 billion (Rs 25,591 crore), a figure JLR says was partly dragged down by the downward revaluation of the company’s foreign currency holdings as well as increasing sums being allocated to paying off previous investments in new models and factory equipment.

Meanwhile, JLR’s investment in new production equipment and new models reached a significant £3.15 billion (Rs 31,005 crore) in the last financial year.

It’s thought that the new projects include further expansion of the Ingenium engine factory, investment in the Jaguar F-Pace SUV and Range Rover ‘Grand Evoque’ as well as the all-new Land Rover Defender model.