Jaguar Land Rover reported a 2.6% decline in retail sales to 39,911 in February compared to last year. However, the decline was not very surprising, given that last year, the company had seen the highest ever February sales in its history.
This year’s number is the second highest February sales ever, it said.
Sales at its Jaguar division were down by 5.2% year-on-year with 11,565 units sold.
The F-PACE SUV remained the brand’s biggest seller, followed by the XF which saw sales up 15%, including the Sportbrake and, in China, the long-wheelbase XFL, the automaker said.
“The new E-PACE compact SUV is still ramping up after going on sale in the UK in late 2018 and in Europe and the USA in January,” it added.
Global Land Rover sales of 28,346 were down 1.5% compared with a record February in 2017.
Sales of the new Velar and Discovery launched in 2017 were up significantly while the new 18 Model Year Range Rover and Range Rover Sport offering a plug in hybrid option for the first time are still ramping up, the Tata Motors unit said.
Sales of the new 18 model year Range Rover and Range Rover Sport and Jaguar E-Pace are still ramping up heading into March which is normally our biggest sales month largely as a result of the registration plate changeover in the UK, the company said.
The sales remained decent despite “difficult trading conditions in key European markets, especially the UK” where the overall numbers were down 15.2% on year.
“Solid demand in China (3.3% up) and other overseas markets (1.5% up) was offset by lower sales in the UK and Europe (6.9% down), where trading conditions remained challenging,” it said.
Sales in North America were 2.2% down on the same month in the previous year.
With this, the sales of the first two months of 2018 are level with those a year ago. In January, sales were up 2.9%.
“We are continuing to see weaker market conditions in Europe and the UK in particular largely reflecting diesel uncertainty,” said Andy Goss, sales director for Jaguar Land Rover Group.
“While February is a short month and we saw strong sales of the new Discovery and Velar models in the month.
“This year will be an exciting year for Jaguar Land Rover with the launch of Jaguar I- Pace, our first electric car which was revealed last week and will be shown at the Geneva Auto Show opening this week.”