Jaguar Land Rover has won a £600m order to supply 13,000 vehicles to China, in a rare piece of good news for the beleaguered automotive industry.

The luxury carmaker, which is owned by Tata of India has been seeking loans or loan guarantees thought to exceed £500m ($714m) from the government, so far without success. The company has been hit by a sharp fall in sales as a result of the world recession.