JLR, formerly known as Jaguar Land Rover, sold 431,733 cars globally in the financial year ending 31 March 2024 – a rise of 22% on the previous 12-month period – as the British brand reduced an order backlog that grew to as high as 200,000 cars.
The company blamed the backlog on part shortages – especially chips – coupled with huge demand for the Land Rover Defender and new-generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models.
Those models made up more than half (57%) of its retail (customer) sales in the year to 31 March 2024, with a combined 244,443 cars sold.
The Defender – which now has a three-model line – was the brand’s best-seller with 114,646 sales, remarkably more than doubling (53.1%) the previous year's leaderboard-topping 74,881 units.
Range Rover sales, although almost half those of its Defender sibling, remained strong (66,199 units, up 34.5%), with Range Rover Sport in third with 63,598. The Range Rover Sport was also JLR’s biggest grower, up 82.8% year on year.
Across the rest of the brand, Range Rover Velar (26,570), Range Rover Evoque (47,421) and Land Rover Discovery Sport (29,044) models all recorded a drop in sales, down 11%, 13.9% and 19.8% respectively.
Compared with its sibling brand, Jaguar sales were relatively low (66,866), with a modest annual increase of 6.9%. The Jaguar F-Pace made up the bulk of this (35%) with 23,251 sales. The Jaguar XE and Jaguar XF were the only two other models to sell more than 10,000 cars (11,552 and 13,782 respectively).
The Jaguar I-Pace, JLR’s only current EV, sold just 5386 units, down 20.2% on the previous financial year. Last year, JLR announced a £2.25 billion investment in Jaguar's electric rebirth, with a number of yet-to-be-announced EVs on the way.
China again led the way as JLR’s biggest retail market (104,123, up 14.4%) followed by North America (94,994, up 22.5%), the UK (79,720, up 24.5%), and mainland Europe (78,253, up 9.1%).
Elsewhere, wholesale figures (direct to dealer) also produced big gains for JLR, recording a 25% uplift to 401,303 sales. These figures are especially interesting given the brand cancelled the previously confirmed agency model switch, which would have resulted in the firm selling directly to customers.
When JLR releases its full financial results in May, it will be expecting to announce record numbers following a buoyant end to the year. Its third quarter was the highest quarterly profit (£627 million) JLR has recorded since the final quarter of the 2017 financial year.
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