Britain's Jlr Posts Higher Sequential Sales in Fourth Quarter as Production Normalises

JLR quarterly sales jump sequentially as production normalises after cyber attack

Jaguar Land Rover Reports Strong Recovery in Quarterly Sales

April 2 (Reuters) - Britain's Jaguar Land Rover on Thursday posted a 61.1% surge in fourth-quarter sales as production normalised after a hit from a cyber incident last year.

Challenges Faced by Jaguar Land Rover

Over the past year, the Range Rover manufacturer has contended with challenges ranging from uncertainty around global trade policy to a cyber attack that halted production, and most recently, a fire at one of its suppliers.

Impact of Cyber Attack and Other Disruptions

While the 95,300 units sold to dealers in January-March were a sharp rise from the previous quarter, they were down 14.5% from a year earlier. Full-year volumes were impacted by factors including U.S. tariffs and production stoppages following the cyber incident, JLR said.

Sales Performance of Key Models

Sales of the profit-boosting Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender models came in at 77.1% of the overall sales in January-March, higher than last year's share of 66.3%. The models are a meaningful contributor to parent Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles' cash flow.

Contribution to Parent Company

JLR, Britain's largest carmaker, is owned by Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and makes up close to 80% of the Indian automaker's revenue.

Retail Sales and Yearly Comparison

Meanwhile, JLR's retail sales, including its Chinese venture with Chery, rose 16.2% sequentially to 92,700 units, a year-on-year decline of 14.3%.

Annual Sales Decline

Dealer and Retail Sales Figures

For the year ending March 31, sales to dealers fell 23.2%, while retail sales dropped 17.8% from a year earlier.

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)