JLR Q4 retail sales surge 11% to 1.14 lakh units; wholesales up 16%

Auto major Tata Motors’ wholly owned subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover(JLR) has reported 11% growth year-on-year in retail sales in Q4 FY24 at 1,14,038. JLR’s wholesales for Q4 FY24 stood at 1,10,190 units, up 16% compared to the same period in Q4 FY23.

The company says its full-year sales surged over 20% YoY amid improved production and sustained global demand. JLR will report results for the fourth quarter and full financial year ended 31 March 2024 in May 2024. 

“Wholesale volumes of 110,190 units in the fourth quarter (excluding the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China JV) were up 16% compared to the same quarter a year ago and up 9% compared to the quarter ended 31 December 2023. By brand, compared to the prior year, wholesale volumes increased in the quarter for Range Rover (up 22% to 58,280 units), Defender (up 5% to 28,702 units), Jaguar (up 39% to 13,528 units) and Discovery (up 1% to 9,680 units),” Tata Motors says in an exchange report.

The company’s retail sales for the fourth quarter, including the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China JV, grew 11% compared to the same quarter a year ago and up 4% compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2023. “Compared to the prior year, retail sales in the quarter were up 32% in the UK, 21% in North America, and 16% Overseas,” the company adds.

JLR says that compared to the prior year, retail sales in China were down 9% in Europe, down 2% for the quarter. 

For the full year ended March 31, 2024, JLR’s wholesale volumes stood at 401,303 and retail sales at 431,733, up 25% and 22%, respectively, compared to the prior year. “Wholesale volumes and retail sales were up in all regions compared to the prior year.” 

The JLR business has delivered consistent performance since Q2 FY23, which is backed by the normalisation of the supply chain and corresponding improvement in production rate of key models like Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Defender. "The order book continues to reduce as the increase in production enables the fulfilment of orders. The premium luxury segment, where it operates, has been resilient to headwinds," brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher says in its March 28 report on Tata Motors.

Tata Motors also expects JLR’s margin to improve consistently and to reduce its auto net debt of ₹29,000 crore over the next 12-15 months. 

JLR also plans to launch its first EV by the end of CY25, while it aims to phase out the ICE engine models gradually. The Tata Group has hiked JLR's margin guidance from 6% to 8% for FY24. The luxury carmaker targets a 10% EBIT margin by FY26. 

Tata Motors shares surged 0.63% in the early morning trade to ₹1,019.35 on the BSE today. The stock is trading below a 52-week high of ₹1,065.60 touched on March 5, 2024, while its m-cap stands at ₹3.38 lakh crore. Tata Motors’ consolidated net profit surged 137.5% during October-December 2023-24 at ₹7,025.11 crore against ₹2,958 crore in the year-ago period, driven by a solid performance by the passenger vehicle arm and JLR.