Land Rover has smashed its UK sales record – clocking up the best monthly figures in its 63-year history.

The Solihull-based 4x4 manufacturer sold 11,400 vehicles in the UK in March, narrowly beating last year’s all-time high performance of 11,300.

The news came despite a fall of almost eight per cent in total new car sales across the UK last month.

Record-breaking Land Rover sales performances were also notched up last month in other key international markets, notably China and India.

Jaguar Land Rover combined were up six per cent globally in March and 13 per cent ahead of 2010 for the first quarter.

Phil Popham, group sales operations director, said: “Despite a challenging business environment, Jaguar Land Rover is flourishing on a global scale with March sales reflecting the confidence consumers have in our brands and products.

“We have ambitious plans to grow our business and it is clear that there is a strong appetite in the market for exciting new products, powertrains and technologies.”

China and India added to Land Rover’s joy, up 33 per cent and 61 per cent respectively. Other notable results were recorded in North America, up 24 per cent, and Russia, up 47 per cent for the month.

Globally, Land Rover sales were up 16 per cent following a positive public reaction to the 2011 model year line-up, with Range Rover up 28 per cent and Freelander 2 up 18 per cent.

Range Rover Sport and Discovery 4 were also up for the quarter – by 12 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.

Global brand director John Edwards said: “These latest sales results reflect the growing confidence of the market and the overwhelmingly positive response we have had to our latest product offerings.

“Nowhere is this more evident than in the UK where we have once again broken an incredible sales record.”

Meanwhile, Jaguar enjoyed its best month ever in India, and record performances in March for the China region, up six per cent and Korea, up 29 per cent.

Adrian Hallmark, global brand director, said: “Jaguar is continuing to make very positive headway.”

However, the lure of new number plates failed to start a surge in new car sales across the UK last month.

Sales in March, with new 11-plate cars available, totalled 366,101 – a 7.9 per cent dip on the March 2010 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

The March 2010 total was boosted by the tail-end of the Government’s car scrappage scheme.

The SMMT said last month’s figures were better than expected and were almost six per cent up on March 2010 if the scrappage volumes are excluded.

UK sales for the first three months of this year are down 8.7 per cent at 558,336.

The total for 2011 is likely to be around 1.93 million cars, which would represent a dip of five per cent on the scrappage-boosted year of 2010.