Jaguar-Land Rover sells 583,313 cars in 2016

Britain’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sold a record 583,312 cars last year, the Indian-owned firm said on Monday.

The firm said in a statement in London it would continue its rapid expansion with the aim of building one million vehicles a year at the turn of the decade.

The firm, however, warned about the negative effect any tariff on its business would have as part of a Brexit deal if Britain were to lose unfettered access to the single market.

Sales were up 20 percent from the previous year, although sales growth slowed to 12 percent year-on-year in December, the carmaker said.

The automaker, which spent years in the doldrums before being bought by India’s Tata in 2008, has since invested heavily in new models.

It also expanded production with plants in China and Brazil and construction of a new site in Slovakia under way.

Sales of luxury Jaguar models rose 77 percent to 148,730 units in 2016 due to strong demand for a range of new high-end products, including the F-PACE, which was launched last year.

Europe was the carmaker’s biggest overall market, accounting for almost a quarter of total demand.

Its annual profit could be cut by one billion pounds ($1.23 billion) by 2020 if Britain returned to World Trade Organisation rules for trade with the continent.