Tata Motors' UK luxury vehicle unit Jaguar Land Rover, has reported April retail sales down 2.3% year on year to 40,385 although the year to date (YTD) tally rose 9.9% to 219,894 cars in the first four months of 2017.
Retail sales last month were up in North America (32.5%), China (10.1%) and Europe (2.7%) but down in the UK (34.6%) and in other overseas markets (19.7%).
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Group sales head Andy Goss said: "This was a solid sales month with a strong performance from Jaguar led by the F-Pace. A small decrease in sales was seen due to two factors. In the UK, customers purchased vehicles before an increase in UK vehicle tax on 1 April. In addition, the run out of the previous Discovery model accounted for a year on year decrease in Land Rover sales. Sales will increase from this month as the redeigned Discovery continues to go on sale across the world, particularly in China and North America, two of our biggest markets."
Jaguar had a record April, retailing 12,310 vehicles, up 54.0%, led by continuing strong sales of the F-Pace, XE and the long wheel base XF-L built by the Chinese joint venture.
Retail sales for Land Rover in April were 28,075 vehicles, down 15.8%, primarily reflecting the run out of the Discovery and the effect of an increase in UK vehicle tax, which were only partially offset by sales of the new model and solid sales of the Range Rover.
