A total of 53,699 Land Rover vehicles were registered in the UK in 2013, an increase of 12.5% on 2012, which until now had been Land Rover’s record year. September 2013 was Land Rover’s strongest ever month with 10,769 vehicles registered. The improved demand was mirrored in 2013 by a similar surge in JLR’s workforce, which grew to 24,913 – an increase of 19% since 2012.
UK sales account for only around 15% of JLR’s total vehicle production, with China being its biggest export market since 2012, and growing at an astonishing rate of 48%.
It took a full 28 years for Land Rover to produce its one-millionth vehicle – a Series III which left the production line in 1976. By contrast, Land Rover today is making around 316,000 vehicles a year, with the Range Rover Evoque accounting for around of third of sales.
But it was the Defender that saw strongest percentage growth in the UK in 2013, up 27% in the year to November 2013 – and with the Defender’s production due to finish in 2015, its desirability will remain high.
