Jaguar Land Rover Sales Stabilizing
- Jaguar-Land Rover net loss declines to “only” £60 million ($99 million)
- Q2 Announcement comes on the heels of £175 million ($289 million) loan from India
- Group sales rise 23%, Tata records tidy profit
By Gunnar Heinrich
NOT entirely certain what to make of this fiscal info from Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover group.
Jaguar Land Rover Group, jointly declared that sales rose 23% in this latest quarter. The BBC reports that stabilizing losses are due to action seen from the Land Rover division.
Could it be that the new Discovery’s launch is pulling the rest of the group out of the fiscal bog?
Possibly, though, last month’s news was grim across Tata’s board which suggests some media spin at play. Tata Motors lost money last year when the Indian car maker bought the two luxury marques from Ford.
That purchase (which Tata asked the UK government to help finance) started a flow of red ink for Tata; it’s newly acquisitioned Jaguar Land Rover have recorded losses clear through 2009.
Last month, Jaguar Land Rover applied for and received a £175 million loan from the Indian government following Tata turning down further British aid. Reportedly, this brings the total tally of private and sovereign loans to £500 million ($825 million) for Jaguar Land Rover.
Tata’s now recorded an on-paper profit of £2.8 million ($4.7 million) with the latest announcement. Can we directly corelate this Tata profit to an increase in Jag and Landie sales?
Hard to tell with this info coming on the heels of financed capital and within precious few news cycles since October’s loan.
We’ll have a clearer pictures by the second quarter of 2010 when the loans effects are known and the new XJ sedans come to market.
About the Author: Gunnar Heinrich is publisher of Automobiles De Luxe online and is executive producer of the Automobiles De Luxe Television series on PBS member station CPTV.
Jim | Nov 30, 2009 | Reply
As much as I admire Land Rovers, I wonder if there is a place for them in the emerging automotive world? The Defender is in a niche where many of the competing vehicles are significantly less expensive to manufacture and are therefore less costly, the HiLux or more profitable, the 70 Series Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol.
The Discovery/Rangie is far too complicated a vehicle to serve as a basis for a utility vehicle where the emphasis is truly on hauling and towing rather than commuting. And is the Purdey/Orvis/Welly/Abercrombie & Kent set large enough to continue growing the company as a luxury brand, even if you include posers?
G | Nov 30, 2009 | Reply
Jim, I think there is room for Range Rover/Land Rover. Perhaps less for Land Rover -if- the group doesn’t beef up the off-road for the less nameplate. You’re right in that Land Rover needs a strictly utilitarian product that governments and large NGOs can buy to replace the Defender.
The Range Rover / Sport design in the early 00s led by BMW and then enacted by Ford saved the company. The earlier popularity of these models cannot be overstated.