Jaguar is seeing the benefit from its pending takeover by Indian automaker Tata Motors with its first monthly sales rise in nearly two years.
The British sports car brand appears to have turned around its sales decline last month with a nearly 70 percent increase in sales across Europe.
It sold 4,047 cars in Europe during April, up 69.6 percent from the 2,386 it sold in April 2007, according to figures from vehicle manufacturers' association ACEA.
The figures were the first monthly sales increase for Jaguar since July 2006.
Jaguar sales rose in the first four months by 0.4 percent to 12,629 units.
Don Hume, Jaguar and Land Rover spokesman, said Jaguar was helped by the launch of the new XF medium-premium sedan and an end to the uncertainty over the company's future.
Ford Motor agreed in March to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata for $2.3 billion.
Hume said: “The clear future for Jaguar is helping us rebuild the brand, underlined by new products like the XF.”
Hume said there had been a global improvement in Jaguar sales, including in the UK, its biggest market, where sales rose nearly 85 percent in April.
“We have got an order book for the XF for 18,000 units, which is at least as good as we hoped,” Hume told Automotive News Europe. “We are working flat out to meet the demand.”
He said there had also been an increase in sales of the X-Type lower-premium sedan and XJ upper-premium sedan.
While Jaguar sales rose, Land Rover sales fell by 14.6 percent in April to 6,023 units, and were down 12.9 percent to 30,573 in the first four months.
Hume said Land Rover was doing well in markets outside Europe.
He said: “April was a record month for Land Rover globally and our global sales continue to rise. Land Rover is continuing its growth pattern of the last three years.”
