3 weeks ago
Jaguar Land Rover has announced its strongest profits for a decade but uncertainty remains around the potential impact of new US tariffs.
New accounts published by the carmaker show that the British marque made a pre-tax profit of £2.5bn for the year ending March 31.
The figure marked a 15% increase on this time last year and the firm’s best performance since 2015, thanks to stellar sales of Land Rover and Range Rover models.
The group said it benefited from record wholesale volumes of the Defender, which sold 115,404 units over the year, with Range Rover Sport wholesales also up 19.7% year-on-year.
Meanwhile, revenues were flat at £29bn for the year despite a 1.7% decline in the final quarter of the year.
The year also included JLR’s re-launch of Jaguar which caused so much controversy back in December. According to reports, the carmaker is now seeking a new advertising agency following the negative reaction to the campaign.
Reacting to the latest financial results, Adrian Mardell, chief executive of JLR, said: ‘JLR has ended the year with strong annual and quarterly earnings, including delivering our tenth consecutive profitable quarter and our net debt zero target.
‘We have achieved record sales of Defender, revealed the stunning Jaguar Type 00 and we are preparing to launch the wonderful Range Rover Electric
‘This strong and consistent performance, the commitment of our people, partners and clients and the appeal of our luxury brands will support our response to current global economic challenges including the evolving global trading environment.’
JLR ‘cannot discount’ building cars in US
Last week, JLR and Marsden welcomed the UK’s new trade deal with the USA, which will see Donald Trump’s Independence Day tariffs slashed from 25% to 10%.
However, despite the recent deal, the carmaker still says it ‘cannot discount’ starting manufacturing in the US in response to tariffs on carmakers.
The company says it currently has ‘no immediate plans’ to shift production from the UK and Europe but refused to rule it out in the future.
Chief executive Mardell told reporters it he is ‘not planning’ on making cars in the US to sell in the country in order to avoid paying tariffs in the country.
‘We had and currently have no cause to build cars in the US at this time, but we cannot discount that it could be the case at some point,’ he added.
JLR halted shipments to the US in early April after the original tariffs were announced but restarted these last week.
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The post JLR delivers strongest profits in a decade but uncertainty looms around US tariffs appeared first on Car Dealer Magazine.
