Land Rover has overtaken its 2009 UK sales figures by a third – selling more than 8,000 more vehicles in just nine months.
Parent group Jaguar Land Rover saw UK sales drop year on year by around 12 per cent for the key ‘licence plate month’ of September, new figures show.
But the annual decline was offset by a strong sales performance by the range of Land Rover products for the first nine months of the year.
UK figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that in the year to date Land Rover has already sold 30,790 vehicles, compared to 22,074 for the first nine months of 2009.
The sales boost was hailed by Land Rover as signs that the UK market was stabilising following the worst recession to hit the automotive sector for decades.
A Land Rover spokeswoman said: “I do not think that we can afford to be complacent, but sales are looking to stabilise.
“We are up 35.9 per cent in the year to date – we have seen 13 months of consistent improvement on sales year on year.
“In September last year, we launched the 2010 model line up, which were significantly enhanced. Against the background of the recession, we continued to invest in products.”
Figures from the SMMT show Land Rover sold 5,788 vehicles in the UK last month compared to 6,587 in September 2009, a drop of 12.13 per cent.
Jaguar saw a 12.83 per cent decline, from 3,360 in September 2009 to 2,929 last month.
Jaguar has sold 13,133 vehicles in 2010, marginally down on last year’s equivalent total of 13,948.
A total of 32 Longbridge MGs were sold last month, and 250 this year.
