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| The Evoque spotted on a famous road |
LR passed the 400,000 mark for the first time in its history. In 2009, they couldn't even muster 150,000 so things have moved forward with haste since then. So what has caused the emphatic change in fortunes? There is only one extra model, the Evoque. That has become the best selling in the range but it is more than that. All the existing models sold more in 2015 than did their counterparts in 2009.
It would be easy to say China is the reason but in every region sales are well up. It seems that each new model has been noticeably better than its predecessor. More people are wanting to own one, it really is that simple.
Models: For 2015 all models were up but for the Evoque, the best seller in the range. I thought the RR Sport was at its peak but it went up yet another 6%. The traditional Range Rover passed 60,000 which was also a peak. The Discovery Sport didn't have a full production year and went close to passing the Freelander's record sales, the model it replaces.
The Discovery defies its age to do well yet again, although not an all time record. Finally the aged Defender had a flurry of sales as the curtain falls on what can only be described as a motoring icon.
| Model | 2015 | Share | 2014 | Share | +/- | |
| Evoque | 108,620 | 27% | 125,364 | 33% | -13% | |
| RR Sport | 87,319 | 22% | 82,440 | 22% | 6% | |
| Disco Sport | 69,501 | 17% | 83 | n/a | ||
| Range Rover | 60,226 | 15% | 53,738 | 14% | 12% | |
| Discovery | 51,008 | 13% | 45,080 | 12% | 13% | |
| Defender | 23,127 | 6% | 17,781 | 4% | 30% | |
| Freelander | 3,278 | 1% | 56,622 | 15% | -94% | |
| Total | 403,079 | 381,108 | 6.0 |
Regions: Europe and North America both had strong growth in sales, records in both cases I'm sure. China and the Rest reduced in number. In neither case do I know enough to proffer an opinion.
| Region | 2015 | Share | 2014 | Share | +/- | |
| Europe | 170,037 | 42% | 140,304 | 37% | 16% | |
| China | 80,484 | 20% | 99,358 | 26% | -21% | |
| Nth America | 78,302 | 19% | 57,748 | 15% | 25% | |
| Rest World | 74,256 | 18% | 83,698 | 22% | -11% | |
| Total | 403,079 | 381,108 | 6.0 |
Data source: Tata.
Summary: Can 2016 extend sales still further? A factory making the Evoque, then the Discovery Sport is to commence production in Brazil in early 2016, adding to the facility in China. So capacity will be increased for certain models. I doubt that will help the RR and RR Sport which are already highly sought after. The Defender ends but numbers are not large anyway. So some increase could be expected but that should be steady rather than stellar.
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