Yahoo Finance Range Rover helps drive JLR to highest quarterly profit since 2017
Jaguar Land Rover has reported its highest quarterly profit since 2017 and said its new electric Range Rover had generated strong interest, as it pushes ahead with upgrades to its UK factories for electrical vehicle production.
The British carmaker, which is owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata, made a profit before tax and exceptional items of £627m in its third quarter, the three months to 31 December, up from £235m a year earlier. Sales reached £7.4bn, as wholesale revenues of its Range Rover hit a quarterly record.
Sales of the highest-spec Range Rover SV, with an average price of £202,000, are growing year on year, and it has sold 3,637 in the financial year so far, compared with 1,909 at this time last year.
JLR said more than 16,000 people had signed up to the waiting list for pre-orders of the Range Rover Electric, its flagship vehicle, seen as a key step towards the company’s electric future as it tries to catch up with rivals.
In December, it began road testing prototypes of the vehicle, its first foray into building electric cars in the UK.
JLR said it was installing a £60m battery electric vehicle underbody line at Solihull in the West Midlands, a new body shop in Halewood, Merseyside, for electric models near completion, and production lines to manufacture electric drive units at Wolverhampton.
The carmaker has been relatively cautious about embracing electric vehicles, but last April announced a £15bn investment plan to upgrade its factories and launch electric versions of its models, starting with the Range Rover.
Tata plans to invest £4bn in opening an electric car battery gigafactory in Britain, creating 4,000 jobs. The plant in Somerset will begin production in 2026.
Adrian Mardell, JLR’s chief executive, said: “Sales of our modern luxury vehicles hit new records in the quarter, and we are excited about the strong client interest for our soon to launch Range Rover Electric.”
