British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover sales up 21% in Q2

British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Friday reported strong sales in the second quarter for the 2013/2014 fiscal year, with retail sales increasing by 21 percent year on year to 102,600 units. JLR, now a subsidiary of Indian Tata Group, said in its quarterly results that the strong global sales volumes resulted in the company's revenues of 4.6 billion pounds (about 7.4 billion U.S. dollars) for the three months to September, rising 40 percent over the same period of last year. Profit before tax increased to 668 million pounds for the quarter supported by strong sales. For the first half of the 2013/2014 fiscal year ending in September, the company reported retail sales of 197,363 vehicles, up 16 percent year on year. The company's revenues were 8.7 billion pounds in the first half of the fiscal year, surging 26 percent year on year and profit before tax was 1.08 billion pounds, up 42 percent. "Our unrelenting focus on design, technology, innovation and quality has seen Jaguar Land Rover reach global consumers in more markets than ever before thanks to its most engaging product line-up," said JLR Chief Executive Officer Ralf Speth. Meanwhile, Tata Motors also issued its quarterly results showing that its net profit surged by a surprise 71 percent as driven by the strong sales by its British unit JLR. JLR's after-tax profit for the three months to September soared by 66.2 percent to 507 million pounds. Figures show that deliveries of Jaguar car rose 56.5 percent to 20,024 units, and Land Rover sales increased 14.8 percent to 82,620 vehicles. JLR's strong performance has been driven by the new and refreshed Jaguar and Land Rover line up and also sturdy demand from China. Operating profit reached 1.49 billion pounds in the half year, representing a growth of 47.9 percent over the corresponding period last year.