Jaguar Land Rover Automotive plc, the UK’s largest car manufacturer, this past Tuesday reported a 13% increase in revenue to £6.5bn with strong customer demand in the three months to December 31, 2016.
Total retail sales of 149,288 vehicles, up 8.5% year-on-year, were a record for the third quarter with higher volumes in China, (up 38.4% including sales from the China joint venture), North America (up 19.8%) and Europe (up 7.0%) led by strong sales of Discovery Sport, Jaguar F-PACE and the Jaguar XF (including the new long wheelbase Jaguar XFL in China).
Jaguar sold 45,364 vehicles, up 90.3% as sales of the F-PACE continued to grow, and demand for the long wheelbase XFL in China increased.
Land Rover sold 103,924 vehicles, down 8.7%, with strong sales of the Discovery Sport more than offset by the run-out of the outgoing Discovery, ahead of the start of sales of the all-new Discovery later in the fourth quarter.
Dr. Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer, said:
Continuing expansion and innovation in our compelling product range have driven up global revenues and retail unit sales, led by the Jaguar F-PACE, Jaguar XF, and Land Rover Discovery Sport. Models such as the all-new Discovery mark the latest step in our investment program, which will underpin long-term profitable, sustainable growth.
Third-quarter profit before tax (“PBT”) was £255 million, primarily reflecting the run-out of the Discovery ahead of the new model, unfavorable foreign exchange revaluation, higher marketing expense and depreciation and amortization, partially offset by further recoveries related to the 2015 Tianjin Port explosion. PBT for the first nine months of 2016/17 was £934 million, down slightly from the £980 million in the nine months of the prior year.
Free cash flow was positive £54 million in the quarter after £926 million of total investment spending.
Note: Press release courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover.