China and US markets bolsters JLR

JaguarLandRover (JLR), the UK's leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles reported its best February retail sales figure of 40,978 vehicles, up nine per cent on February 2016, driven by strong sales performances in China and North America.

The company sold 88,671 vehicles in the first two months of 2016, six per cent up on the same period in the prior year.

Retail sales for the month of February were up year-on-year across many key regions: 40 per cent in China, 16 per cent in North America and 14 per cent in the UK. Europe and other overseas markets were down two per cent and seven per cent respectively year-on-year.

In the first two months of 2017, Jaguar has sold 26,152 vehicles, up 78 per cent while Land Rover’s sales were 62,519, up nine per    cent.

Jaguar had its best February performance, delivering 12,203 vehicles, up 81 per cent on the previous year, due to continued solid sales of the XE (3,309 vehicles) and the all-new F-PACE (5,323 vehicles). China recorded outstanding year-on-year growth of 118 per cent.

Land Rover retailed 28,775 vehicles in the month, down 6 per cent year-on-year. Best-sellers for the month were the Discovery Sport, retailing 8,357 vehicles, the Range Rover Evoque, retailing 7,806 vehicles and the Range Rover, with retails of 4,790 in the month. Sales have now begun for the all-new Discovery and this month Land Rover launched a new addition to the Range Rover family, the Velar.

                                   Boost for women in engineering

Meanwhile, in an attempt to reverse the image of women in engineering JLR had teamed with Getty Images as more people than ever are searching images of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers, yet results are often out-dated and don’t reflect today’s exciting and varied roles. This partnership aims to change that.

Pictures released today by JLR and Getty Images show women in a variety of STEM roles from aerodynamics to cyber and audio engineering. They are intended to encourage more women to apply for these jobs by accurately portraying the modern workplace.

New data released by Getty Images shows that web traffic for imagery showing women in engineering careers is significantly increasing.  The number of people searching “women + STEM” imagery has risen by 526 per cent in the past year alone.

Fiona Pargeter, JLR’s global PR communications director, said: “We have always championed women in the car business and are committed to inspiring more girls and women to consider careers in engineering and manufacturing. Our female workforce has grown from nine to 11 per cent over the past four years due to our focused STEM initiatives. But this is still far too low – businesses being proactive about using realistic imagery is one of the many ways that we can attract the bright minds we need into STEM careers.”

Michelle Mortiboys, vehicle line director, JLR Special Vehicle Operations, said: “Here at Jaguar Land Rover we need the diversity of skills that women bring to ensure we thrive and maintain our competitive edge for years to come. It is well known that gender diversification in business is not just healthy culturally but also propels progressiveness and innovation. Our partnership with Getty Images is not just about recruiting women into engineering, it’s a small part of the work that needs to be done to upscale female employees in the automotive sector as a whole.”