Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Thursday, April 6, reported increased sales for the fourth quarter of FY23 and for the full financial year, reflecting a continuation of the gradual improvement in chip and other supply constraints.
The retail sales for the fourth quarter were 102,889 units (including the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China joint venture), up 21 percent from the prior quarter ending December 31, 2022, and up 30 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago.
Compared to the last fiscal, retail volumes were higher in all markets led by Europe (47 percent), the UK (42 percent), China (29 percent), Overseas (29 percent) and North America (12 percent), the company said in an exchange filing.
In terms of wholesale volumes for the fourth quarter, JLR sold 94,649 units (excluding the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China joint venture), up 19 percent compared to the prior quarter ending December 31, 2022, and 24 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago.
Compared to the prior year, wholesale volumes were higher in all markets, led by overseas (62 percent), UK (24 percent), Europe (22 percent), China (17 percent), and North America (2 percent). For the full year ended March 31, 2023, wholesales (excluding China joint venture) were 321,362, up 9 percent, and retails were 354,662, down 6 percent.
Also, the order book remained strong, with about 200,000 client orders at the quarter end, about 15,000 lower than December 31, 2022, reflecting the higher retails this quarter. Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Defender demand remain particularly strong, representing 76 percent of the order book.
The company said Range Rover and Range Rover Sport production volumes continued to increase, with 32,950 wholesale units in the quarter, up from 28,000 in Q3. Defender wholesale volumes increased to 27,513 units as JLR continued to operate a third shift at the Nitra plant, up from 23,816 in Q3.
On a preliminary basis, JLR’s free cash flow is estimated to be over 800 million pounds in the fourth quarter and over 500 million pounds for the full year, based on a preliminary estimated cash balance of over 3.7 billion pounds and net debt of around 3 billion pounds, it said.
