Mubasher: The UK's largest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), said it sales hit a record high during 2017, as reported by BBC Business.

The company said Jaguar standalone sales registered 178,601 cars, up 20% from 2016, while Land Rover sales went up 2% to 442,508.

“JLR said sales had more than tripled since 2009,” BBC added.

This was the seventh successive year of growth in sales; this increase was backed by the introduction of new models and increased uptake of its clean diesel and petrol engines.

“Jaguar saw strong demand for the Jaguar F-Pace, XE and XF models, while Land Rover's best-seller for the year was the Discovery Sport, which sold 126,078 vehicles,” it added.

Growing sales in China and the US helped in offsetting what JLR described as "difficult market conditions" in the European and UK markets, BBC said.

JLR sales operations director Andy Goss said, "We are facing tough times in key markets such as the UK where consumer confidence and diesel taxes will hit us."