Jaguar Land Rover back in profit - sales up 23 per cent

Jaguar Land Rover back in profit – sales up 23 per cent

December 1, 2009 By Cars UK

JLR rmade a profit and increased sales by 23% in the last quarter

JLR made a profit and increased sales by 23% in the last quarter

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) turned an operating profit in the last quarter and saw sales rise by 23%.

Despite the attempts by the UK Government to hijack Jaguar Land Rover in exchange for financial backing to get through the current economic mess that is afflicting car makers, JLR hasn’t capitulated to whatever the unknown demands were and has instead ploughed its own furrow to build financing for the future. And very successful it’s been too, with a rather large chunk of change raised from private financing (including a very clever deal to finance Jaguar Land Rover from production to delivery). Which in itself is a show of faith in the future Tata is mapping out for Jaguar Land Rover.

And it now seems that those plans are starting to bear fruit with the report that JLR are back in profit (well, operating profit) for the last quarter. Cost cutting measures throughout the group coupled with some great product and clever marketing all aligned to show a profit of £2.8 million in the last quarter. Not enough to buy a bacon buttie for every one of Tata’s employees, but an impressive turnaround from the recent mire.

No doubt the cost cutting has helped, but the new XF is a really strong product and selling well, and the 2010 models of the Discovery, Range Rover and Freelander are a good buy. But if JLR can manage this sort of profit in what is still a depressed market – and without a Jaguar halo product until the new XJ comes on stream in 2010 – things really are looking bright.

Nice to be able to report a bit of good news.

Source: Reuters