Car giant Jaguar Land Rover has chalked up profits of nearly half a billion pounds in just six months in a remarkable fightback from the car industry’s deepest recession for decades.
The Midlands biggest manufacturer has announced profits of £238 million for the second quarter of the year, adding to £234 million earnings for the previous quarter.
Sales figures soared across a string of markets, including China, Russia and North America as JLR consigned the downturn to distant memory.
The record quarter under Tata was revealed just weeks after the company reversed plans to close either Castle Bromwich or Solihull, and said it was pumping £5 billion into the company for investment and new models.
By contrast JLR figures for the same three months in 2010 showed losses of £60 million as the downturn bit deep in the automotive sector.
JLR spokesman Jonathan Griffiths said: “This is an improvement of £298 million over the loss after tax of £60 million in the equivalent quarter of the 2009-10 financial year.
“This is the fourth successive quarter of positive profit after tax. The positive result for the second quarter has been driven by higher sales volumes, improvements in margins and efficiency and a favourable foreign exchange rate environment.
“In the quarter Jaguar Land Rover had wholesale volumes of 55,100 units, which represents a 24 per cent increase over sales in the equivalent quarter of the 2009-10 financial year.
“China, Russia and North America were amongst the strongest performing markets for the quarter.”
Meanwhile Dr Ralf Speth, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, has been appointed as a non-executive director on the Tata Motors board.
