JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) has announced pre-tax profits of £32m as it the car manufacturer continues its progress after a turbulent period for the firm.

Its Indian parent company Tata Motors said it was “pleased” with the return to profitability for the year to March, 2010, which followed a £281m loss for the previous 10 months since it bought the car maker.

Tata said: “With the positive market reception of the enhanced product range in an improved market environment as well as continued cost reduction efforts, the business was able to show sustained quarter on quarter improvement towards solid profitability in quarter three and quarter four of the financial year.”

During the year JLR put in place a long term financing plan including the drawdown of a £340m EIB loan and syndication of inventory financing.

JLR’s “retail sales improved favorably in the second half of the year, after addressing the effects of the global economic turndown and launching new model year products”.

Sales of luxury cars slumped during the recession and the company has had to axe 2,000 jobs from its total workforce of 16,000, including temporary and agency roles at its Halewood plant.

The plant, which now employs around 2,000 people, also saw the early termination of the Jaguar X-Type car, which had been built there. It now focuses on the Land Rover Freelander 2 vehicle.

But Halewood is now gearing up for the launch next year of the “baby” Range Rover LRX model, which the company says will be the greenest vehicle it has yet produced.