Jaguar Land Rover India has announced strong year-on-year growth of 45 percent in volume for the first nine months of the calendar year 2017. Total sales during this period for the luxury carmaker were 2,942 units.

Almost all model lines of Jaguar Land Rover, including the XE, XF, F-PACE, Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque have witnessed high demand during the period. Sales also surged for the top-of-the-line Range Rover Sport and the flagship of the Land Rover brand – the Range Rover. 

Speaking about the performance, Rohit Suri, president and Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India, said: “The performance is a great testimony to our focus on building highly aspirational brands and world-class sales and after-sales infrastructure. All the product lines have been accepted extremely well in India and we are confident about carrying this momentum into 2018 as well.”  

Luxury carmakers on a high

JLR rivals in India too have registered a significant increase in sales in the first nine months of  2017.

Market leader Mercedes-Benz India sold a record 11,869 units, up by 19.6 percent (January-September 2016: 9924 units). In fact, it even registered best-ever third-quarter sales as volumes touched 4,698 units in the July-September, up 41 percent from last year.

Meanwhile, BMW India has registered a 17.3 percent year-on-year growth in sales to 7,138 units in the first nine months of 2017. Volumes saw a boost in the third quarter (July-September) due to the upbeat demand for the new 5-series which was launched on June 29, 2017. Like Mercedes, BMW also registered its best-ever third quarter with sales of 2,549 units.

Growth in the luxury car segment could face a hurdle in the form of the recently hiked cess under the Goods and Service Tax. Under the new GST code, the additional cess on midsize vehicles has been raised by 2 percent to 17 percent, on large vehicles by 5 percent to 20 percent and on SUVs by 7 percent to 22 percent. As a result of the hike, the total tax incidence on mid-size cars, large vehicles and SUVs now stands at 45 percent, 48 percent and 50 percent, respectively. 

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