Jaguar Land Rover back in the black

CAR maker Jaguar Land Rover returned to profit in the last three months of 2009, Indian owner Tata Motors revealed yesterday.

The company, which employs 14,500 staff in the UK, posted an after-tax profit of 4.6 billion rupees (59.6 million) in the final quarter of last year.

Tata said stronger market conditions, well-received new models and efforts to cut costs helped put the company back in the black. Sales volumes – aided by measures such as scrappage schemes – stood at 165,413, 68 per cent ahead of a year earlier in the worst depths of the recession.

Land Rover sales were up 34 per cent quarter-on-quarter, with Jaguar volumes up 11.5 per cent after strong demand for its highly-acclaimed XF model.