Currently reading: JLR order backlog grows to 215,000 cars

British firm's order books swell by 10,000 cars amidst strong demand

The order backlog at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) grew to 215,000 cars between October and December 2022 as retail and wholesale sales rose.

The rise of 10,000 units compared with the previous quarter hints that demand for JLR's cars continues to outstrip its production capacity.

JLR has been severely afflicted by the semiconductor chip shortage, which former CEO Thierry Bolloré warned would take “years” to resolve before he stepped down for personal reasons.

Overall, the firm sold 79,591 cars wholesale between October and December, an improvement of 5.7% (4284) compared with the previous quarter and up 15% (10,409) compared with the same period in 2021.

This growth was driven by volume increases in North America and the UK, up 17% (3737) and 13% (1612) respectively.

However, wholesales in China and Europe fell by 13% (1669) and 3% (536) respectively. The former was impacted by Covid, though, said JLR.

North America, Europe and the UK were the firm’s top three markets during the 2022 calendar year, with 81,313, 70,334 and 58,177 wholesales respectively.

JLR’s retail sales for the quarter were stronger still, at 84,827 cars – a 5.9% (4701) improvement compared with the same period in 2021 but 3.7% (3294) down quarter on quarter.

The slight shortfall compared with the previous quarter reflects the difference in timing between retail and wholesale, said JLR.

Land rover defender 2020 front quarter tracking

The Land Rover Defender was JLR's most popular model at retail, with 19,841 sold – up 61.9% (7589) year on year.

It was followed by the new Range Rover (14,076) and the Range Rover Evoque (11,203) – marking a successful quarter for Land Rover at retail, with the brand’s volumes rising 7% (4568) year on year.

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Jaguar’s retail performance was less noteworthy, as its sales rose by just 0.9% (837) compared with October to December 2021.

The F-Pace SUV was the brand’s most popular model, recording 5884 sales – 70.1% (2425) more than in the same period in 2021.

Of note was the poor performance of the Jaguar I-Pace, JLR's only electric car. Just 1146 were sold during the quarter, a 55.2% (1412) decrease year on year. The slump is also reflected in the model’s wholesales of 1111, a significant slump compared with the 2588 that went to dealerships during October to December 2021.

This may reflect the fact that JLR has ramped up production of the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, likely diverting limited semiconductor supplies to the two models.

Combined, the luxury SUVs reached 27,456 wholesales during the quarter – more than double the 13,537 sold between July and October.

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Charlie Martin

Charlie Martin Autocar
Title: Editorial assistant, Autocar

As part of Autocar’s news desk, Charlie plays a key role in the title’s coverage of new car launches and industry events. He’s also a regular contributor to its social media channels, providing videos for Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and Twitter.

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Sean Pryde 11 January 2023
It's all very well having a massive backlog but when the new reg comes out in April and September the spec on the car changes and the car you have ordered has to be reordered and the price has increased. This happened with me 2 weeks after ordering when it went up £2k which I agreed to. The when the car was delivered in December I was told it would cost an extra £3k as it was cancelled and reordered in March which I did not know about. I ended up not taking the new car i lost out due to the part ex of my current car was £7K less than when I ordered the car.
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Symanski 9 January 2023

No other marque has the same problems.   This is mismanagement by the world's worst automotive CEO Thierry Bollore.

 

Remember this is essentially just Land Rover as Bollore killed off Jaguar.   Gone is the XE, gone is the XF, and gone is the XJ.   All killed off by Bollore.

 

XJ was nearly complete but Bollore killed it off citing that the platform was too old.   Same platform was later released as the Range Rover and Sport model.   The problem wasn't the platform but because Bollore wanted to kill off Jaguar.

 

Why?

 

He said he wanted it to compete with Bentley.   A car company a tenth, if that, of the size of Jaguar.   Probably less than a 20th the size.   And certainly for where Jaguar should be, producing 1 series and A class rivals, a boutique car manufacturer.

 

To achieve what Bollore wanted was to decimate Jaguar.   And he did it by not building any.   Stopping the lines from making new Jaguars.

 

Blamed the chip shortage, but every other marque figured it out, didn't they?   And JLR are only able to build a tiny fraction more than last year because of his incompetence.

 

That's what Autocar should be reporting.   The demise of Jaguar at the hands of Thierry Bollore.