While Jaguar Land Rover officially opens its 'factory within a factory' as Solihull plant and commences production of the new Jaguar XE, the UK's leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles had its strongest ever March sales performance this month. It retailed 58,481 vehicles, up 6 per cent on the previous year. Land Rover also delivered its best ever March performance with 49,099 vehicles, up 13 per cent versus last year. Jaguar retailed 9,382 vehicles, down 2,349 units.

This was an exciting sales month for Land Rover, with the introduction of the Discovery Sport. Elsewhere there was also strong sales performance from the Discovery (up 35 per cent on 2014), Range Rover Sport (up 15 per cent on 2014), Range Rover (up 38 per cent on 2014) and Defender (up 58 per cent on 2014) models.

The F-TYPE, which continues to perform well, was up 4 per cent year-on-year in March. With sales for the new Jaguar XE commencing soon and the all-new Jaguar XF making its debut this month, Jaguar is set to impress in its 80th year. The F-PACE, Jaguar's all-new performance crossover, will go on sale in 2016 and will be manufactured at Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant.

Commenting on the month, Andy Goss, Jaguar Land Rover Group Sales Operations Director said: "Fantastic news for Land Rover this month achieving its strongest ever March sales performance and particularly exciting to see Jaguar Land Rover UK and USA sales significantly up on the prior year. Furthermore, the response to the new Jaguar XF which was showcased at the New York and Seoul motor shows last week has been extremely positive. 2015 will most definitely be the year of the cat."