Jaguar Land Rover global sales rise 7% in October
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MUMBAI -- Global sales of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles rose 7 percent in October, as deliveries at parent company Tata Motors rose 6 percent in the same period, the Indian company said.
Tata said sales at the luxury British unit rose to 27,897 compared with the year before, after falling in September for the first time in 14 months. Jaguar sold 3,339 vehicles last month and Land Rover delivered 24,558, Tata said in a statement on Thursday.
Tata Motors, part of the salt-to-steel Tata Group conglomerate, sold a total of 100,660 vehicles in October. Overall passenger car sales stood at 49,264 vehicles, down 5 percent from a year earlier. Commercial vehicle sales rose 19 percent to 51,396.
Earlier this month, Tata said second-quarter net income rose 11 percent to 20.8 billion rupees ($384 million) from 18.8 billion rupees a year earlier, with profit at JLR up 77 percent to 305 million pounds ($488 million).
Despite the profit rise, deliveries at Jaguar declined for four straight months through September, while sales that month at Land Rover expanded at the slowest pace since December 2009.
Tata has grown dependent on JLR, which it bought from Ford Motor Co. for $2.3 billion in 2008, as domestic sales of its own models struggle.
Tata has said it plans to invest $12 billion in the unit over five years.
China production
JLR is turning to emerging markets such as China, Russia and South Africa to pursue growth. The unit received written approval from China's main industry planner to form a venture with Chery Automobile Co. and begin making cars in the world's biggest auto market.
The venture, to be based in the eastern city of Changshu in Jiangsu province will have a production capacity of 130,000 vehicles annually, according to a statement posted recently on China's Ministry of Environmental Protection's Web site.
Land Rover will have 160 Chinese dealerships by 2020, John Edwards, who heads the car brand, said in September.
Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report
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