LAND ROVER vehicle sales continue to drive recovery at the luxury car marque.

The latest monthly and cumulative annual sales figures released by Tata Motors Group, the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), revealed steady progress at the manufacturer which currently builds the successful Freelander 2 4x4 model at Knowsley’s Halewood plant and is gearing up for the July launch of the new Range Rover Evoque, which has led to the recruitment of 1,500 new workers for the plant.

Tata revealed that global sales for JLR last month were 21,653 vehicles, which was a 26% improvement on the same month last year.

When broken down by brand, Jaguar sales for the month were 3,213 vehicles, a 2% fall compared with February 2010.

However, Land Rover sales were 18,440, higher by 33%.

Cumulative sales of both Jaguar and Land Rover marques for the fiscal year are 217,472, which is 28% better in comparison with the previous period.

Cumulative sales for Jaguar are 49,221, a 15% improvement, while cumulative sales of Land Rover are 168,251, which is 32% ahead of the previous year.

Global motor sales for Tata Motors Group, including Jaguar Land Rover, were 102,411 vehicles in February 2011, a growth of 14% over February 2010.

Cumulative sales for the period from April 2010 to February 2011 were 970,129, higher by 26% compared to the corresponding period in 2009-10.

Tata bought JLR from US car maker Ford in 2008 for £1.15bn.

It is India’s largest automobile company and through subsidiaries and associate companies has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand and Spain.

Apart from its JLR business it also has an industrial joint venture with Fiat in India.

With more than 5.9m Tata vehicles in India it is the country’s market leader in commercial vehicles and among the top three in passenger vehicles.

It is also the world’s fourth largest truck manufacturer and the second largest bus manufacturer.