JLR India notches best-ever calendar year sales in 2018: 4,596 units, up 16%

Jaguar Land Rover India has announced record sales of 4,596 units in calendar year 2018, which marks  16.23 percent year-on-year growth (2017: 3,954). This total is the luxury carmaker’s best-ever annual sales yet and has been driven by models like the Land Rover Discovery Sport, Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar F-Pace, XE and XF with over half of all sales in 2018 being driven by SUVs.

Rohit Suri, president and managing director, Jaguar Land Rover India, said: “The auto industry faced strong headwinds in 2018, especially in the second half with tight liquidity conditions, increased upfront insurance costs and increased lending rates. Despite that, the growth of Jaguar Land Rover in India has been very encouraging for us and we continue to focus on strong product launches and an ever improving customer experience in 2019 for the two iconic brands, Jaguar and Land Rover.

The year 2018 saw over 10 product introductions including the launch of the Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque Convertible, Model Year 2018 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, Jaguar F-Pace in 2.0-litre petrol and the 50^th anniversary Jaguar XJ50.

Of the luxury carmakers in India to have announced their sales numbers for 2018, Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars India recorded a YoY 30 percent sales growth with volumes totaling 2,638 units in 2018. BMW Group India today announced that it sold 11,105 vehicles (including MINI) in 2018 (Jan-Dec), registering a growth of 13 percent year-on-year.

India's luxury car market is currently led by Mercedes-Benz, which will soon announce its sales results. Although both BMW and Volvo have managed to buck the trend, demand for passenger vehicles, including those in the luxury segment, faced a challenge in the form of high interest rates, depreciation of the rupee and rising import costs in the second half of 2018.

Also read: Volvo India clocks 30 percent sales growth in 2018

BMW Group India records 13 percent YoY growth in 2018