JLR order book rises to more than 205,000 cars

The launch of the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport has increased Jaguar Land Rover’s sales by over 9000 units in the latest financial quarter, but also added to the worldwide orders book of more than 205,000 cars.

Along with the popular Land Rover Defender, the three models account for more than 145,000 cars in the company's order book, which grew by almost 5000 units in the second quarter. JLR said it is being hampered by parts shortages, especially a lack of semiconductors.

This sizeable amount of orders previously resulted in the Tata-owned British company posting losses of £524 million in the three months to the end of June, which the firm attributed to both parts shortages and the continued Covid lockdowns in China.

Production of its new flagship models was slow in the first quarter, with fewer than 6000 Range Rovers, and “almost zero” Range Rover Sports, built.

However, the picture improved in Q2, as 13,537 orders for the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport were fulfilled, up from a combined 5790 in Q1.

In total, 88,121 orders in Q2 were completed, with a focus on fulfilling orders for the firm’s most profitable cars. JLR said it expects this number to rise in the next quarter as a result of new agreements with parts suppliers.

Overall, order were up 9296 (11.8%) on Q1, driven by a surge from China (up 38% on Q1) and North America (27%). However, orders were down from the UK (7%) and Europe (10%).

As for JLR as a whole, Land Rover accounted for 70,781 of the second quarter’s orders (up 11.3% on Q1), with Jaguar taking 17,240 (up 14%). For the financial year so far, JLR has recorded 166,946 orders, up 23.2% year on year.