JLR's June retail sales fall 25% amid pandemic

New Delhi, July 9 Jaguar Land Rover on Thursday reported a 24.9 per cent drop in its retail sales in June at 35,334 vehicles due to severe impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the sales marked an improvement on a monthly basis. During the April-June period, sale fell a massive 42.4 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to 74,067 units.

In June, the sale of Jaguar fell 41.7 per cent YoY to 8,713 units, and that of Land Rover was down 17.1 per cent at 26,621 units.

"Jaguar Land Rover retail sales for the three-month period to June 30, 2020 were significantly impacted by Covid-19 in line with the unprecedented market conditions, but improved month-on-month through the quarter," a JLR statement said.

It noted that strict lockdowns and social distancing measures for Covid-19 resulted in temporary shutdowns of most retailers and the company's manufacturing plants in April and much of May.

The company said that over 95 per cent of Jaguar Land Rover's retailers worldwide are now open or partially open and all of the company's plants have resumed manufacturing, with the exception of the Castle Bromwich facility, which will gradually restart in August.

All plants are operating on single shift with social distancing measures in place and production has been ramped up as demand grows.

The statement said that the sales recoveries in June for China and North America were particularly encouraging. China sales were only 7.4 per cent lower year-on-year while North America sales were up 2.2 per cent.

"UK sales were down 31.8 per cent in the first month of retailers reopening (England from 1 June and Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales later in the month). The overseas region was down 33.1 per cent and Europe was down 52.5 per cent," it said.

Inevitably retail sales of all models were lower year-on-year, but against this background the best-selling vehicles were the Range Rover Sport, the new Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport, it said.

Felix Brautigam, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Commercial Officer, said: "While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the global auto industry, we are pleased to see initial green shoots of recovery. Through the quarter we continued to introduce new and updated Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, to very positive response."

( With inputs from IANS )