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Jaguar Land Rover sold 425,000 vehicles during 2013, the highest in the UK-based firm's history.

Buyers in the US, Germany and India fuelled the nearly 20 per cent year-on-year sales increase.

The vast majority of sales were Land Rover-branded 4x4s and SUVs, which accounted for 350,000 units sold globally last year. Flagship products such as the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque underpinned much of the sub-brand’s success.

While Jaguar has a long way to go before it catches its sister company, it nevertheless had an impressive year too, with sales rising by 42 per cent.

Both brands have improved their reputations for reliability in recent years, creating less work for annual breakdown cover providers compared to some Jaguar and Range Rover models in the pre-Tata era.

JLR's staff levels will rise to over 26,000 across the UK, as 2,000 new staff members are hired in the firm's Merseyside and West Midlands plants in order to cope with rising demand around the world.

The turnaround of Jaguar Land Rover has been dramatic since it was bought by India's Tata Motors in 2008. The Mumbai firm had asked for assistance from the UK government during the worst of the economic crisis, but with investment in new models both Jaguar and Land Rover have seen sales rocket in recent years.

High end cars such as those sold by JLR are in great demand from the burgeoning middle classes of India and China.

Tata Motors' poor commercial performance of late has been buoyed by the continued good results from its British operations, spurred on by improved international market conditions.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen's luxury brands –