JLR posted pre-tax profits of £2.5 billion in the 12 months to the end of March, its highest profit in 10 years and a 15% increase on the previous year.
The British company today released its results for the 2024/25 financial year, during which it “navigated global economic challenges” to generate £29 billion in revenues and its best profit in a decade.
It reported that its EBIT margin for the year was 8.5%, and in the final quarter of the financial year, that figure climbed as high as 10.7%.
JLR attributed the increased profitability to “higher volumes and a reduction in depreciation and amortisation” but said the uptick was “partially offset by an increase in variable marketing expense”.
Record sales for the best-selling Land Rover Defender played a significant part in that increased profitability, with the Slovakia-built 4x4 accounting for 115,404 sales over the 12 months - a 0.7% uptick.
Range Rover Sport sales climbed by 19.7% to 79,862 and the larger Range Rover clocked an 8.9% increase at just under 77,000 sales.
Sales of the smaller Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque were up by 9.3% and 26.7%, but the older Land Rover Discovery – in its eighth year on sale – declined by 5.8%.
Jaguar sales nearly halved last year as JLR wound down production of all the brand's models in preparation for its bold new electric era, which will begin next year with the launch of the production version of the Type 00 concept - for which 32,000 people are said to have 'expressed interest'.
Just 26,862 Jaguars were sold worldwide, a 45.8% drop - roughly half of which were F-Pace SUVs.
Looking ahead to this financial year, JLR said it would “continue to evaluate the impact of global challenges”, referencing the newly imposed tariffs on foreign-built vehicles in the US, a crucial market for Jaguar and Land Rover cars.
JLR “welcomed the positive announcement of a US-UK trade deal” last week, which included a tariff reduction from 27.5% to 10%, albeit limited to the first 100,000 cars.
The company said: “This deal brings greater certainty for our sector and stakeholders. We will continue to engage with the UK government on the detail of the trade deal.
"Our priority is to ensure we deliver for our global clients and protect EBIT through delivery of transformation and efficiency initiatives."
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