New car sales slump in UK, but Jaguar sales double
Jaguar sales more than doubled in February as the rest of the UK car industry stayed in negative territory.
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders this morning showed that registrations of new cars fell by 22 per cent to 54,359 last month and were 28 per cent down - at 166,446 - over the first two months of 2009.
But Jaguar shrugged off its financial worries and plant shutdowns to sell 360 cars last month, 108 per cent more than in the same month in 2008.
The rise is due to strong demand for the Big Cat’s popular XF mid-range saloon which is built at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham. But comparisons with February 2008 are skewed by the fact that the XF did not go on sale until March that year.
Land Rover, in contrast, continued to lose ground in the downturn. Volumes fell by 21 per cent to 501 in February and were 47 per cent down at 2,089 over the year so far.
Although February is traditionally a quiet month for car sales in the UK because many buyers wait for March’s registration plate change, the figures show that “urgent action” is still needed by the Gopvernment to put a floor under the recession-battered industry, SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said.
Germany, which has introduced a “scrappage” scheme that rewards owners of old cars for trading them in exchange for new, cleaner models, saw registrations rise by 21 per cent to 278,000 units in February.
