Jaguar Land Rover hit hard by stock shortages to start 2022

Out of the mainstream automotive manufacturers in Australia, it is Jaguar Land Rover which has struggled the most to start the year with sales down by over 50 per cent across both marques in February.

After a small rebound for Land Rover throughout 2021, its drop in sales at the back end of last year has carried on into 2022, recording just 477 units delivered so far compared to 1144 at the same time 12 months ago – a drop of 58 per cent.

This was compounded by an especially difficult February in which it managed to shift only 138 vehicles to customers – dropping by 77 per cent compared to the same month a year prior, with all models showing year-on-year decreases.

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February was a tough month for Jaguar too, with its 34 cars sold versus 80 a year ago contributing to year-to-date sales which are around half of those from 2021 – selling only 67 units down from 133.

However, JLR's troubles can be pinned on a lack of supply rather than dwindling demand, as the manufacturer faced numerous setbacks in 2021 which included halting production at some facilities.

A spokesperson for the brand told Wheels the ongoing semiconductor shortage, as well as COVID-19-related disruptions were holding it back from getting cars on local shores.

"Like other automotive manufacturers, we are currently experiencing some COVID-19 supply chain disruption, including the global availability of semiconductors, which is having an impact on our production", said the spokesperson.

"We continue to see strong customer demand for our range of vehicles. We are working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimise the impact on customer orders wherever possible."

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The effects of production issues and supply constraints are being felt globally for the intertwined British marques, reflected in its third-quarter financial announcement last month in which it recorded a £9 million (AU$17m) loss for the quarter.

At the time, it also reported 155,000 global orders for new cars, although its third-quarter deliveries of 80,126 units was down 37.6 per cent on the year prior.