AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/09 Report--

According to British media reports, sales of Jaguar Land Rover in China fell 85% in February compared with the same period last year due to the COVID-19 epidemic, but specific sales figures have not yet been released. Tata Group, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover, said: "given the current uncertain situation and the possibility of changes, full-year EBIT profit margins are expected to fall by about 1 per cent as Jaguar Land Rover's sales in China decline."

The Chinese market is Jaguar Land Rover's largest single market, and its sales in China are down 85% from a year earlier, meaning its global sales will fall sharply. Tata Group said that in the first half of February, only 20% of Jaguar Land Rover dealers in China opened for business, although the current proportion has risen to 80%, but most dealer personnel and facilities are still shrinking. It is not expected to improve until the end of March, and sales in the first quarter are not optimistic. As the epidemic spreads around the world, in addition to the Chinese market, sales performance in South Korea, Japan and Italy will also be affected.

In fact, Jaguar Land Rover is not the only car company that has caused a sharp decline in sales due to the epidemic. According to the car companies that have released sales data, whether it is Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BYD and BAIC New Energy, its sales in China have declined to varying degrees according to the same period last year.

Schweder, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, said in early February that Jaguar Land Rover had no sales performance in China for a period of time in February and could not make up for such sales losses.

Last month, Jaguar Land Rover warned that production at its UK plant would be at risk because of a shortage of parts supplies in China caused by the epidemic. Tata said that in response to the shortage of spare parts, Jaguar Land Rover worked closely with suppliers to ship parts to the UK partly by air to maintain car production.

The importance of the Chinese market as Jaguar Land Rover's largest single market is imaginable. According to data, Jaguar Land Rover accounts for about 25% of global sales. Jaguar Land Rover is of great significance to Tata Group, accounting for about 73% of Tata Group's annual turnover. From this we can see that the Chinese market is of great significance to Tata Group. Jaguar Land Rover's sales in China have recovered in the past few months, helping it return to profitability in recent quarters.

Sales and performance of Jaguar Land Rover in China have picked up in the past few months, causing Jaguar Land Rover to make a pre-tax profit of 318 million pounds (2.882 billion yuan) in the third quarter, an increase of 591 million pounds (5.356 billion yuan) over the same period last year, compared with a loss of 273 million pounds (2.474 billion yuan) in 2018. Revenue rose 2.8 per cent to 6.4 billion pounds (58 billion yuan).

Jaguar Land Rover as a second-tier luxury brand, its overall domestic brand and image are not very optimistic, compared with the second-tier luxury brands Cadillac, Lexus, Volvo and other brands have a big gap. Jaguar Land Rover has declined for two consecutive years since its sales hit a record high in 2017. Global sales of Jaguar Land Rover in 2019 were 558000, down 5.9% from 592000 in 2018, of which sales in China fell 13.5%. This is also one of the main reasons for the decline in Jaguar Land Rover's global sales.

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