JLR Q3 retail sales up 5.9% YoY; free cashflow to touch $485 million

Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Limited (part of Tata Sons), on January 9 reported increased wholesale volumes for the third quarter of FY23 (three-month period to 31 December 2022), reflecting gradual improvement in chip supplies. The New Range Rover, New Range Rover Sport, and Defender represent 74 percent of the order book.

Wholesale volumes were 79,591 units in the period (excluding the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China joint venture), up 5.7 percent, compared to the previous quarter ending September 30, 2022, and 15.0 percent, compared to the same quarter a year ago.

As against the prior quarter, wholesale volumes were higher in North America (+17 percent), the United Kingdom (+13 percent), and overseas (+10 percent), and lower in China (-13 percent) and Europe (-3 percent); volumes in China were impacted by COVID-19.

The production ramp-up of the New Range Rover and New Range Rover Sport continued with 27,456 units wholesaled in the quarter, up from 13,537 in Q2.

Retail sales for the third quarter were 84,827 units, up 5.9 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago and 3.7 percent lower than the quarter ending September 30, 2022, reflecting timing between retail and wholesale.

The company informed the bourses: “JLR continues to see strong demand for its vehicles. As of December 31, 2022, the total order book increased to 2,15,000 client orders, up around 10,000 orders from September 30, 2022. Demand for the New Range Rover, New Range Rover Sport and Defender remain strong and represent 74 percent of the order book.”

“Jaguar Land Rover expects to report unaudited results for the third quarter ending December 31, 2022, on January 25, 2023. On a preliminary basis, free cash flow is likely to be over £400 million positive in the quarter. In December 2022, the company completed a renewal of its undrawn revolving credit facility with 23 banks at £1.45 billion with the maturity date extended from March 2024 to April 2026,” the automaker added.

Meanwhile, the global wholesales of Tata Motors Group in Q3FY23, including Jaguar Land Rover, came in at 3,22,556 units, higher by 13 percent as against the year-ago period.

The global wholesales of all Tata Motors’ commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in the third quarter came in 97,956 units., lower by 5 percent as compared to the year-ago period. However, global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in Q3 surged by 23 percent YoY to 2,24,600 units.