Tata-JLR emerges UK’s top carmaker in 2015, amidst an auto boom

Jaguar Land Rover has made a remarkable comeback to emerge the biggest car maker in Britain for the first time, capping a six-year turnaround under its new management Tata Motors, and bringing back the glory of British auto industry.

The maker of UK's iconic car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which almost collapsed in 2009, produced 489,923 cars in 2015, moving ahead of current leader Nissan, which produced 476,589 cars during the year.

JLR gained in 2015 with a 9 per cent increase in production, while manufacturing at Nissan's UK operations fell by nearly 5 per cent during the year.

British car manufacturing also reached its highest level in a decade with the number of cars manufactured in Britain hitting the highest level for a decade in 2015 thanks to the success of JLR, Mini and Toyota.

UK car production increased by 3.9 per cent year-on-year in 2015 to 1,587,677 units, the biggest since 2005. UK also reported a 2.7 per cent increase in the number of cars exported to an all-time high of 1,227,881.

Jaguar Land Rover produced 489,923 cars in 2015 at its three British manufacturing plants at Solihull, Birmingham and Liverpool. The company is expected to reach its target of over half a million cars this year, driven by a roll out of the XE, XF and Discovery Sport (launched in 2015) and the launch of the F-PACE.

The figures compare with the 158,000 units the company produced in 2009, when Tata acquired the carmaker.

Like JLR, the country's third-largest car manufacturer, Mini, the maker of the iconic Mini Cooper, reported a 12.4 per cent increase in the production while Toyota, the fourth-largest also saw a production boom.

Nissan and JLR each produce more than the country's third- and fourth-largest car manufacturers put together - MINI and Toyota together produce less than 400,000 cars.

George Osborne, the chancellor, hailed the figures as evidence that the UK economy is rebalancing. ''Backing Britain's car industry has been a priority for this government and today we see the industry going from strength to strength,'' he said.

Wolfgang Stadler, executive director of manufacturing at JLR, said the acceleration in manufacturing had come despite a ''challenging year for the industry against a backdrop of socio-economic instability.''

The achievement comes after a decline in JLR's China sales, which were down 24 per cent, hit by market conditions, and the Tianjin chemical explosion in August, which destroyed or damaged 5,800 vehicles.