A JAGUAR boom with sales up 77% year on year helped Jaguar Land Rover soar past half a million sales and close to 600,000 in a record-breaking year of global success.

Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles achieved its best ever full-year global sales in 2016, selling more than one car every minute with retails of 583,313 vehicles, up 20% on the prior year.

This is the company’s seventh successive year of growth in sales, with retails in 2016 almost triple the 2009 figure.

Sales in December were up 12% compared to the same month last year, with retails of 55,375. Retail volumes were up 36% for the month in China – its strongest monthly performance on record.

Jaguar Land Rover’s global performance for the full year 2016 shows a balanced regional portfolio with record retail sales in the UK, North America and Europe.

Europe was the company’s largest sales region in 2016 with annual sales of 138,695, up 26% year on year. Retail sales were up across all other regions: 31% in China, 25% in North America and 17% in the UK. A total of 117,571 Jaguars and Land Rovers were bought by customers in the UK – its best full-year results in the company’s history.

Andy Goss, Jaguar Land Rover group sales operations director, said: “This has been a significant year for Jaguar Land Rover, with updated models being introduced across the range, as well as the completely new Land Rover Discovery Sport and the Jaguar F-PACE. It is particularly pleasing to see the Jaguar brand setting impressive new sales records.

“Customer response has been very positive this year, resulting in record retails across most of our key regions. These results mark significant steps in Jaguar Land Rover’s strategy to become a truly global business and meet the growing international demand for its two iconic brands.

“I am confident that in 2017 our British line-up will continue to expand and delight in markets across the world.”

Jaguar sales were up an exceptional 77% for the year, retailing 148,730 vehicles. This was the brand’s strongest ever full-year performance and was primarily driven by sales of the Jaguar F-PACE, XE and XF.

These new models have propelled Jaguar to become the fastest growing premium brand in the US, outpacing the industry by 116%. Globally, F-Pace sales were especially strong, with 45,973 sold throughout the year. Jaguar received 71 awards in 2016 for its products, with the F-Pace amassing more than a third of these.

In November, the Jaguar XF won Germany’s top car award, the Golden Steering Wheel, after being voted ‘Best Saloon’ in the Mid-Full-size category.

Land Rover retailed a record 434,583 vehicles in 2016, up 8% up on 2015. The previous Discovery model entered its run-out phase, meaning that sales softened slightly ahead of the all-new Land Rover Discovery going on sale in February 2017.

The best-seller for the year was the Discovery Sport, retailing 122,460 vehicles, up 76%. Also notable were sales of the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport, selling a total of 200,245 vehicles. In 2016, Land Rover received 83 awards for its products, with the Discovery Sport taking home an impressive 33 of these, on top of breaking a Guinness world record in September with the largest ever Lego structure.

During the year the company celebrated 201 global awards, which included becoming the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturer and being named Britain’s Manufacturer of the Year at the Made in the UK Awards.

In May 2016, Jaguar Land Rover reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the Armed Forces in its role as Presenting Partner of the 2016 Invictus Games in Florida.

It was also a significant year for the expansion of Jaguar Land Rover’s manufacturing footprint to support continued growth, with construction beginning on the first British manufacturing facility in Slovakia and with the opening of the company’s new factory in Itatiaia, Brazil. Jaguar Land Rover also introduced the XFL, the first Jaguar developed exclusively for Chinese customers, to its joint venture plant in China.

In December 2016, Jaguar Land Rover launched its fifth consecutive Young Women in the Know programme, to help potential female apprentices build on their engineering skills, knowledge and experience and to give them a deep insight into engineering and manufacturing careers.

Jaguar Land Rover’s female engineering workforce has grown from 9% to 11% of the total over the past four years due to initiatives like Young Women in the Know and its Women in Engineering undergraduate sponsorship scheme. In 2017 Jaguar Land Rover will keep working to attract more female talent.