West Midlands luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover continues to flourish after posting a £53 million rise in pre-tax profit.

The company, which employs thousands of people in Birmingham, Solihull and the wider region, said full-year profit had risen by three per cent to £1.6 billion on the back of revenue of £24.3 billion, itself a climb of nine per cent.

China continues to be a strong market, with 32 per cent of its annual sales of 604,009 cars coming from this market.

Total cars sold in the year to March 31, 2017, were up by 16 per cent with climbs in key markets including in North America (24 per cent), the UK (16 per cent) and Europe (13 per cent).

The manufacturer said the record sales were led by Jaguar F-Pace and continuing strong demand for the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

JLR finished the year with a positive fourth quarter, with higher revenue of £7.3 billion and pre-tax profit of £676 million.

Chief executive Ralf Speth said: "These solid results demonstrate the appeal of our products and our ability to deliver strong, profitable and sustainable growth.

The Jaguar F-Pace and Land Rover Discovery
The Jaguar F-Pace and Land Rover Discovery

"We are continuing to invest significantly in new models and innovation as shown by the new Land Rover Discovery, the forthcoming Range Rover Velar and all-electric Jaguar I-Pace, reinforcing our commitment to new technologies and providing new and compelling customer experiences."

During the 2016/17 financial year, JLR invested more than £3.4 billion, which includes expenditure on the construction of the new £1 billion manufacturing plant in Slovakia and the ongoing expansion of its UK facilities.

It said it planned to invest more than £4 billion during the coming year on expanding its product portfolio, innovative technologies, research and development and increasing its manufacturing capacity.

Chief financial officer Kenneth Gregor added: "We remain committed to our ambitious growth plans despite seasonal variations in demand and global economic challenges.

"We remain focused on maintaining our financial discipline and plan to fund future investment from operating cash.

"Jaguar Land Rover is pleased to end the fiscal year on a strong note despite the geopolitical and volatile economic environment.

"We believe we have strong and exciting product actions and plans to continue to drive profitable volume growth."