PTI reported that the turnaround at TATA's owned car maker Jaguar Land Rover accelerated in the July to September 2011 quarter as booming demand in China helped drive a 30% rise in sales.

JRL said that revenues rose to GBP 2.9 billion in the three months to September 30th 2011. It benefited from strong demand for the recently launched Range Rover Evoque and a version of the Jaguar XF with a 2.2 liter diesel engine. The company's pre tax profits rose 9% to GBP 287 million.

Retail sales in China soared 87 during the quarter, with Range Rovers and a Jaguar XJ model with a three liter engine proving popular among the country's burgeoning middle class.

Sales in Russia were up by 6%. In the UK, retail sales were up 1% as a rise in sales at Land Rover offset a fall at Jaguar. JLR has enjoyed a dramatic turnaround in fortunes in recent years, boosted by strong demand in emerging markets.

The company last week announced that it would create 1,000 jobs at its factory in Solihull, near Birmingham, to support plans to launch 40 products over the next four years.

Earlier this year, the car maker, which employs some 21,000 workers in the Midlands and Merseyside, said it will build a GBP 355 million engine plant in Wolverhampton that will potentially create thousands of jobs.

TATA Motors, controlled by billionaire Mr Ratan Tata, bought the company from Ford for GBP 1.5 billion in June 2008. The strong performance at JLR helped boost the performance of Tata Motors. The group's sales rose by 27% to GBP 4.5 billion, while underlying profits rose 13% to GBP 337.4 million.

(Sourced from PTI)