WHITLEY (UK): Jaguar Land Rover retail sales during the financial year 2019-20 were down by 12.1 per cent to 508,659 vehicles, primarily as a result of the coronavirus pandemic significantly impacting sales in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, according to a statement from the company.
The company’s total retail sales for the quarter ending March 31, 2020 were 109,869 vehicles, down 30.9 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Fiscal 2019/20 sales have been impacted across all regions with lower sales in North America (7.5 per cent down on record prior year), China (8.9 per cent), UK (9.6 per cent), Europe (16.1 per cent) and overseas (20.3 per cent).
China had generated double digit growth in Q2 and Q3 and, with lockdown measures easing, nearly all of the company’s retailers in the region have now reopened, and sales are recovering.
Despite the impact of coronavirus, retail sales of the new Range Rover Evoque were up 24.7 per cent year-on-year and sales of the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE increased 40 per cent. The very first sales of the new Land Rover Defender also took place in the fourth quarter. In light of the on-going coronavirus situation, Jaguar Land Rover has temporarily suspended production at its facilities outside China.
In addition, the company is tightly managing all other costs and investments as well as working capital. Jaguar Land Rover will be reporting audited results for the financial year ended March 31, 2020 at a later date but ended this financial year with 3.6 billion pound of cash and short-term investments (unaudited) and an undrawn revolving credit facility of 1.9 billion pound. The company said it is rigorously following the guidance of all the relevant authorities in the countries in which it operates and will work towards a phased return to production as soon as conditions permit.
Felix Brautigam, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Commercial Officer, said: “The financial year 2019-20 has been a year of unprecedented disruption for the automotive sector. Despite the impact of regulatory change, shifting consumer tastes, Brexit and on-going trade tensions, sales for Jaguar and Land Rover were showing improvement until the coronavirus pandemic hit in the fourth quarter.”
