Luxury autobrand JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover) looks set to hoist a flag for record profits this May after announcing a 22% rise in car sales as it accelerates towards the end of its 2023-4 financial year.

The period to March 31 showed a tally of 431,733 motors as the maker worked extra hours to try and clear an order backlog of 200,000 customer requests.

JLR, a subsidiary of Indian giant Tata, said the news reflected improved production and sustained global demand.

In Q3, wholesale volumes reached 110,190 units and were up 16% compared to the same quarter a year ago, while also rising 9% compared to the quarter ended 31 December 2023.

By brand, compared to the prior year, wholesale volumes increased in the quarter for Range Rover (up 22% to 58,280 units), Defender (up 5% to 28,702 units), Jaguar (up 39% to 13,528 units) and Discovery (up 1% to 9,680 units).

Retail sales for the fourth quarter were 114,038 units (including the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China JV), up 11% compared to the same quarter a year ago and up 4% compared to the quarter ended 31 December 2023. Compared to the prior year, retail sales in the quarter were up 32% in the UK, 21% in North America, and 16% Overseas.

Compared to the prior year, retail sales in China were down 9% and down 2% in Europe for the quarter.

For the full year ended 31 March 2024, wholesale volumes came to 401,303 while retail sales were 431,733, up 25% and 22% respectively compared to the prior year. Across all regions, wholesale volumes and retail sales were up compared to the prior year.

JLR said it will report results for the fourth quarter and its full financial year ended 31 March 2024 in May.

JLR's latest update comes amid its plan to transform business by becoming carbon net zero across its supply chain, products, and operations by 2039.

A spokesman said: "We have set a roadmap to reduce emissions across our own operations and value chains by 2030 through approved, science-based targets. Electrification is central to this strategy and before the end of the decade our Range Rover, Discovery and Defender collections will each have a pure electric model, while Jaguar will be entirely electric."

JLR's UK infrastructure consists of two design and engineering sites, three vehicle manufacturing facilities, an electric propulsion manufacturing centre and a battery assembly centre. Elsewhere, it has vehicle plants in China (a joint venture), Slovakia, Austria (contract manufacturing with Magna Steyr), India (contract manufacturing with Tata Motors Ltd) and Brazil, as well as seven technology hubs across the globe.