Jaguar Land Rover roars away to record profits

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has posted the highest profits in it's history. The luxury car maker said that pre-tax profits grew from £1.1bn last year, which was also a record, to £1.51bn.

JLR's owners the Indian conglomerate Tata said that the increase in profits was in part due to a 76 per cent rise in Chinese sales to 50,994 and the worldwide popularity of the new Range Rover Evoque. But the car maker also saw growth in Europe – despite the ongoing Euro crisis – continue. Russia and German sales increased 38.1 per cent and 22.3 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, the group said France saw a 57.4 per cent growth in sales, while surprisingly Spain was up 18.1 per cent, despite the recession.