Sowetan Reporter

Sowetan Reporter

Land Rover has achieved a global sales record for the second year running.

Last year the 4x4 manufacturer sold 192 500 vehicles around the world, an increase of 4percent, or 8 500 vehicles, on the year before.

The year saw the US become Land Rover's largest single market, with a sales increase of 3,5 percent.

Sales in the highly competitive US market were driven by the phenomenal success of the Range Rover Sport, which saw an 80 percent growth.

There was also significant progress in emerging markets such as Russia, which saw its sixth successive year of growth, and the Middle East and North Africa regions, where sales increased by 54 percent and 43 percent respectively.

In the UK, sales of Range Rover Sport and Range Rover increased by 52 percent and 12,5 percent respectively in a year, which saw the run out of Freelander, which ceased production in July.

The all-new Freelander 2 only went on sale in the UK last month, but it still notched up nearly 900 sales in the short sales month.

Phil Popham, Land Rover's Global managing director, said: "This is a fantastic achievement given that we were without our volume product for most of the year and it also provides a foundation for the launch of the all-new Freelander 2, which is a vehicle designed for the global market."

The company said it needed to maintain this momentum this year and make progress in new markets.

Land Rover's modern diesel engines are currently dominating the UK market, accounting for 92 percent of sales. Demand for the new TDV8 Range Rover saw diesel derivatives of the model surge by 145 percent in the final quarter of last year.

The company said the Range Rover was UK's best selling luxury car, adding that the new engine can give petrol levels of performance with a 32 percent improvement in fuel economy.

Sales of Range Rover Sport have exceeded 75 000 since its launch to become Land Rover's best-selling model.