Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Tuesday reported a 12.4 per cent increase in retail sales at 1,23,483 units in the fourth quarter of 2020-21.

Stating that there is continuing recovery from the impact of Covid-19, JLR said its sales in China in Q4 were up 127 per cent compared to a year ago, when that market was heavily affected by the pandemic.

Sales in North America were also up year-on-year (10.4 per cent), while other regions remain lower than pre-Covid levels, including overseas markets (down 10 per cent), the UK (decline of 6.8 per cent) and Europe (4.9 per cent dip), JLR said in a statement.

For the full 2020-21 fiscal year, JLR's global retail sales stood at 4,39,588 units, down 13.6 per cent on the previous year largely due to the adverse impact of the pandemic, it added.

Growth in China was strong, with retails reaching 1,11,206 vehicles, up 23.4 per cent year-on-year. However, sales in other regions have not yet recovered to pre-Covid levels with North America down 14.3 per cent and the UK, Europe, and overseas markets each down more than 20 per cent, it added.

By model, the new Land Rover Defender contributed 45,244 sales in the year, while other models were down year-on-year, reflecting the impact of Covid, particularly earlier in the year, the company said.

Commenting on the company's sales performance, JLR Chief Commercial Officer Felix Brautigam said, "while the Covid-19 pandemic has an ongoing impact on the global auto industry, I am pleased to end the financial year with sales up year-on-year in the last quarter."

Encouragingly, he said, "the steady recovery throughout the year follows the direction of our Reimagine strategy: the quality of our sales improved even more than the volume, with a focus on our most profitable car lines, higher specifications and lower incentives."

Brautigam said, "despite very different Covid restrictions worldwide, we also achieved our objective of balanced sales across our key markets."