New Range Rover and Range Rover Sport production sees Jaguar Land Rover return to profit

Increased production of the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport sees Jaguar Land Rover return to profit for the first time in two years.

We’ve seen Jaguar Land Rover proclaiming its huge order bank as an indication of its success, despite ongoing losses as production has failed to ramp up in an era of Covid-related supply chain shortages. But now, two years since it had a quarter in the black, JLR returns to profit as production finally starts to improve.

JLR managed 92,345 wholesale sales in the last quarter, up by a modest 2,446 on the previous quarter, thanks to a big rise in US numbers offsetting a drop in China sales as Covid closed down chunks of China, with Range Rover models accounting for over half the numbers.

But despite the relatively modest upturn in sales, JLR managed to turn a £256 million profit because they continue to prioritise production of the high-margin Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender models, despite which the order bank now stands at 215,000 – up another 10k.

The profits are helped by big sales of the Range Rover SV too, with more than 5,000 ordered at an average price of £180k, but an emphasis on producing high-margin cars has seen poor numbers for other JLR cars.

The Discovery Sport only shifted 6,369, the Discovery just 1,984 and the electric Jaguar i-Pace a disappointing 1,111.

Adrian Mardell, JLR’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, said:

Jaguar Land Rover has returned to profit as chip shortages eased in the quarter and production and wholesales increased. These improved results are testament to the hard work and dedication of our people across the business who have delivered a further increase in production of our New Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models.