Despite all the headwinds in 2021, JLR nearly turned a profit in the final quarter of the year. Here's how
For Autocar Business webinars and podcasts, visitThe reason for the bumper quarter in terms of revenue-per-model was twofold, Mardell told investors. First was the need to prioritise cars for the scarce chips and that meant ignoring cheaper models.
“We’re consciously not allowing customers to order lowest-value derivatives because they’re the last vehicles to be built and we do not want customers to wait 12 months or more,”If you wondered how the chip crisis was affecting prices, then there was a big clue. That meant JLR barely built anyor XFs at all, with sales figures showing that the few they did build were all in its China joint venture, meant for Chinese customers.
Second, JLR was switching over production from its outgoing Range Rover to the highly anticipated new version. Mardell said there was a “huge bias” in production for the outgoing model to make sure all customer orders were fulfilled. “That really has lifted the average revenue,”Mardell. The new Range Rover has yet to filter through in results, although JLR said it has 31,000 orders for the model within its overall 155,000 order backlog amid the chip shortage.
JLR production from January to March will be dominated by the Range Rover Sport as the company clears orders for the outgoing version ahead of production of the new one,