Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover posts record sales

India has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which posted record sales for 2013 on Sunday as the iconic British luxury brands sold 425,000 units worldwide.

The record sales of over 400,000 cars marked the UK-based car maker's strongest-ever full year global sales performance while the US, Germany and India are now JLR's fastest growing markets.

"Our unrelenting focus on design, technology, innovation and quality has seen Jaguar Land Rover reach global consumers in more markets than ever before thanks to its most desirable product line-up, enriched further in 2013 by the Jaguar F-TYPE and all-new Range Rover Sport," said JLR CEO Ralf Speth.

Sales have been doing particularly well in the US and Germany, besides the rapidly growing developing economies of India and China.

Globally, Land Rover proved the firm favourite among customers representing the largest share of sales with 348,383 sold in 2013, an increase of 15 per cent.

But demand for the luxury Jaguar has also surged over the last 12 months, almost doubling its international sales to 76,668.

The UK-based company is now planning to hire nearly 2,000 extra employees to meet growing demand, bringing its total staff in the country to more than 26,000.

Around 600 jobs will be created over the next four years at the firm's site near Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. More than 500 million pounds are being invested in the centre, where low-emission engines will be built.

JLR also has design and manufacturing plants in Merseyside and Warwickshire, with a head office based in Coventry.

The company claims to support over 190,000 UK jobs through its overall supply chain and dealer network and has plans to invest 2.75 billion pounds in its products and facilities in the financial year ending March 2014.

The latest sales figures are yet another resounding vote of confidence for the Tata Group, which acquired the flagging brands in 2008 amid a global economic slowdown.

"It is not just our customers who are delighting in our strongest ever vehicle line up, international journalists bestowed almost 200 awards on our vehicles in 2013 with the F-Type, our star performer, receiving more than 59 accolades," said JLR's group sales operations director, Andy Goss.

JLR is one of the UK's largest exporters and generates about 85 per cent of its revenue from exports.