Jaguar Land Rover Australia expects stock delays despite strong bounceback in 2021

Jaguar-Land Rover Australia says a strong customer order bank for 2021 isn't reflected by published sales figures, owing to the ongoing product delays caused by the global computer chip shortage.

The British 4WD brand has only three per cent year-to-date sales growth in a market that has increased nearly 30 per cent in the first half of 2021. Jaguar sales are down nearly 20 per cent.

JLR Australia said at a briefing today the company has recovered well from a rough 2020 despite what industry vehicle-registration figures suggest. Managing director Mark Cameron said the company had posted a 50 per cent increase in orders taken over the first six months of 2020 and a 150 per cent jump in orders compared with the back end of the year.

The relative success has been attributed to mid-life updates or full refreshes for the majority of JLR's models in 2021, and 34 per cent growth in sales of $70K+ large SUVs – key Jaguar-Land Rover territory. The company said the Covid-19 pandemic is prompting its primary customer demographic to spend its money on cars rather than overseas travel.

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New Defender is Land Rover's second best-selling model in Australia for 2021

Supply problems are also affecting the all-new Defender, a vital model. The company recently announced its production facility in Nitra, Slovakia, would be shutting down temporarily owing to the semi-conductor chip shortage crisis.

The all-new Defender 110 was introduced locally in the second half of 2020 and has just been joined by the shorter-wheelbase Defender 90. Land Rover Australia says the Defender currently accounts for between 25 and 30 per cent of JLR's orders but has warned customers could face waits into early 2022 for delivery.

Cameron admitted JLR Australia was looking at options to keep its delivery schedule for all models on track. This includes the possibility of removing features that are heavily reliant on the semi-conductor chips.

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Range Rover Sport sales are on the up from last year's numbers

The Defender is Land Rover's second most popular vehicle so far in 2021, with 912 sales only behind the 1155 registrations of the Range Rover Sport.

Jaguar-Land Rover claims the success of the Defender, Range Rover and Jaguar SUV models means the company accounts for just over a quarter of all $70k+ large SUV sales in Australia over the last six months, more than any other manufacturer.

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The Jaguar I-Pace is currently JLR's only EV option in Australia

Bringing plug-in hybrid models to Australia is still off the table for the time being, with Cameron putting down JLR's hesitance toward introducing its PHEV variants locally down to different approaches being taken by state governments.

He believes further changes to the Luxury Car Tax, on top of the recent amendments, would lead to a stronger consideration for JLR to bring a wider range of its of luxury PHEVs to Australia.

Prices of JLR's products could soon come down off the back of a Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom and Australia, essentially scrapping tariffs on vehicles imported from British brands.