Andy Goss, JLR group sales operations director, said: “Customer response has been extremely positive, resulting in record retails across UK, North America and Europe. The appeal of our Jaguars and Land Rovers has also been recognised through over 95 global awards in 2015, including 15 for the Land Rover Discovery Sport and 19 for the Jaguar XE alone. 2016 promises to be another exciting year, with the start of sales of the Range Rover Evoque Convertible and the Jaguar F-PACE, along with further all-new and refreshed vehicles.”
JLR's global performance for the full year 2015 shows a balanced regional portfolio with record retail sales in UK, North America and Europe. Sales to Europe and UK each topped 100,000 vehicles for the first time ever: Europe was the company's largest sales region in 2015 with sales of 110,298, up 28% year on year; and with a growth of 21% over 2014 figures, a total of 100,636 Jaguars and Land Rovers were bought by customers in the UK.
Last year was also a significant year for the expansion of the company's manufacturing footprint to support continued growth, most recently with the announcement that JLR will be the first British carmaker to open a manufacturing facility in Slovakia. JLR's first manufacturing plant in Brazil; local production of the Land Rover Discovery Sport will start there in 2016.
During the year, the company announced the doubling of the size of its UK Engine Manufacturing Centre and confirmed that it had agreed a manufacturing partnership with Magna Steyr to build some future vehicles in Graz, Austria.
In March 2015, JLR reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the UK, with confirmation of a £600 million investment across its Castle Bromwich Advanced Manufacturing Plant, Whitley Advanced Design and Development Centre and the National Automotive Innovation Centre to support product creation and advanced vehicle manufacturing.
