XFR has helped keep Jaguar in the public eye
Jaguar's UK sales continue to rise, with November's sales up 50 percent year on year.
The combination of buoyant sales for the XF, a recently refreshed XK sports car range, and a (positive) media frenzy around the new XFR and forthcoming XJ luxury saloon helped Jaguar to shift 1,467 vehicles in November.
That compares well with the 975 cars Jaguar sold in November 2008, despite having to soldier on with the long-in-the-tooth X-type.
Jaguar's figures are impressive, but they are soundly beaten by Mercedes' figure of a 132 percent year-on-year leap - a stat no doubt enhanced by the recent arrival of the all-new E-class.
Overall, the car market recorded a 57.6 percent increase on November 2008 with total sales of 158,082, a figure that matches November 2007's stats.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) remained cautious, however, saying that the current high sales could be an artificial bubble that may be about to burst.
"The increase in new car registrations in November reflects the positive impact of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme, customers avoiding the VAT increase in January and the very difficult conditions we experienced a year ago," says Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. "SMMT is urging government to use its Pre-Budget Report to sustain the recovery and generate business confidence by stimulating demand in key parts of the new vehicle market."
In light of the fact that more than a fifth of new cars sold in November came courtesy of the scrappage scheme, Ford's sales increase of just 19 per cent seems a little meagre.
Scrappage sales tend to benefit smaller cars like the Fiesta and Focus more than any other sector, yet despite Ford's mainstream pairing still taking the top two spots in the UK sales charts, Ford's overall market share has dropped from 18.5 per cent to 13.8 per cent.