McDonald Landrover News

Tata Motors on the Roll with Jaguar Land Rover Sales

July 15th, 2010

The largest auto maker in India, Tata Motors, reports a dramatic 50% surge in vehicle sales. Its Jaguar and Land Rover marques lead the rally with a whopping 72% jump in its UK markets alone. The happy news boosted the company’s Sensex share prices to 2.2% in early Wednesday afternoon trading. The rise contributed to the Sensex benchmark average which was up by 0.3%.

Amazing Turnaround

For a long time since Tata Motors acquired the Jaguar Land Rover division from ailing Ford Motors in 2008, at the height of the economic recession brought about by the collapse of the Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, the JLR was proving to be a losing business proposition that almost made the Tata Group regret its purchase decision. But over the last 12 months, the company has been reaping a whirlwind turnaround totally beyond the company sales forecast.

Jaguar’s luxury car sales grew 34% while Land Rover SUVs leaped 93% in May compared with the same period last year. Jaguar car sales have seeing a steady month-to-month growth since the launch of its latest XJ sedan.

With the economic recession seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, but getting extended by the sovereign debt crises triggered by Greece early this year, it’s almost amazing that most of the JLR’s turnaround would be coming from Europe. Now what could be driving the sales from a continent gripped in a debt crisis at the moment?

Analysts opine that Tata Motors is benefiting from new model launches which have sustained the appetite for its luxury cars in the high end markets considered more immune to the recession. Mumbai-based brokerage firm Ambit Capital observes that “The new launches are especially helping Jaguar. And Land Rover is a strong brand by itself. Overall, there has been no negative volume traction yet despite the looming crisis in Europe.

Going Forward

Europe and the UK account for more than 50% of Tata Motors total export sales. The new model launches are expected to sustain market demands for the few more months remaining in 2010 but it is not certain what the long term market prognosis will be with the looming debt crisis. Many market analysts are still hopeful any adverse impact on the economy will not dampen or erode the luxury car markets.

While Tata Motors stock more than doubled in the last 12 months, it has lost 8.8% last month as the manufacture of the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, has been battling rising cost of raw materials and domestic competition.

Tags: Ambit Capital, Jaguar Land Rover, Sensex, Tata
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India to Assemble Land Rover Freelander

July 15th, 2010

India’s largest automobile manufacturer Tata Motors plans to start local assembly of the Land Rover’s Freelander towards the end of 2010. Its Pimpri car manufacturing facilities near Pune is being retooled with the right machineries for assembly of the Land Rover model. Its Jaguar Land Rover subsidiary plans to launch these locally assembled Freelanders by the middle of 2011 for the local markets.

Retrofitting the Local Factory

It was earlier learned that the same factory near Pune was being used by Mercedes Benz for assembly of some of its cars but have since transferred to its Chakan factory in Pune, leaving it free for the JLR to take over for its Freelander assembly.

Industry sources have intimated that Tata Motors is expected to begin trial assembly and production in December after investing around Rs 1.5 billion to retrofit the former Mercedes Benz factory. The redesigned factory will have a capacity of 20 Freelanders per month but Tata Motors plan to assemble other cars under the Land Rover brand.

Industry experts are one is saying that the local assembly of the Freelander will have positive impact on its profitability to Tata Motors. With cheaper labour cost, it means higher profit margins as the company has no plans of reducing the price tags of the local produced SUVs.

A First of its Kind

This is the first time that Jaguar Land Rover will have a local assembly plant outside of its factories in the UK. The company remains undecided on whether to use the locally assembled Freelanders for its export markets. But industry experts have opined this is the way to go with China as another option for its car manufacturing ventures. Considering the increasing affluence of the Chinese middle class, there would be a much higher demand in China. Tata Motors is seen to realize the cost benefits with imported CBU in India reaching 110% duties and taxes while CKU is only 40%.

The Freelander currently competes with the BMW X3 as well as the Audi Q5 for the mid-market segments for SUVs. The Freelander currently has a sticker price of Rs 346,900 in Mumbai. Domestic sales data is rather sparse by Mumbai’s Jaguar Land Rover office has sold 242 Land Rover cars for the 2009-2010 period.

It was in 2008 when Tata Motors acquired the Jaguar Land Rover marque from struggling Ford Motors. For a while, the JLR division continued to hemorrhage but the last 18 months have seen it reap significant profits as the marque reaped a 72% surge in sales in its UK markets recently. There are currently four JLR distribution outlets in India with a recent Jaguar XJ outlet launched.

Tags: India, Land Rover, Land Rover Freelander, Tata
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Enjoying the LANDROVERmax Festival

July 14th, 2010

Britain’s iconic 4X4 off-roader gets a toast with the LANDROVERmax, dubbed as “UK’s ultimate festival for Land Rover lovers.” The event scheduled for the month of August, welcomes all types, models, colors, shapes and sizes of the 62-year old all-terrain, all-weather- all purpose 4X4 utility vehicle that is known as the father of the modern day sport utility vehicle or SUVs.

A Long Weekend for the Event

The LANDROVERmax event is expected to take place on a weekend stating on a Saturday, August 28 up to Monday August 30. Day tickets cost £14 if purchased on any of the event days for adults, but if you get them in advance, it will only cost £10. The long weekend promises to be a lot of fun combining camping, muddy entertainment and caravanning at the Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. There will be a parade of classic Land Rovers over the years and will include demonstrations of Land Rover owner and driver skills such as winching, off-roading and stunt driving.

Event Activities

Visitors to the event are enjoined to come in with their Land Rovers of whatever vintage and style and include modern day Range Rovers, Discovery and Freelanders. They will have the rare opportunity to maneuver their own Land Rovers over an off-road terrain specially designed by the Land Rover Company and featuring what organizers promise to be an “exciting and challenging” course through wooded forests and hills. For Land Rover owners who don’t want their prized possession soiled, this may not be for them.

The off-road course will each be one-hour sessions and will cost participants £12 per course which include the benefit of expert Land Rover marshals deployed to offer advice and assistance on the proper handling the Land Rovers through the tricky circuitous terrain.

The editorial team of the Land Rover Monthly publication will be on hand at all times during the sessions to provide off-road restoration assistance such as vehicle repairs and mechanical advice as well as showcasing some of the Land Rover vehicles featured in its magazine.

An alternate activity of Land Rover fans will have tent-pitching on the side or taking along a Land Rover caravan for three to six nights starting at £20 per night. This is a value bargain at it already includes the entry ticket price to the LANDROVERmax shows.

Tags: Land Rover Freelander, LANDROVERmax, Range Rover, Range Rover Discovery
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Land Rover Lease Creates S4C Scandal

July 13th, 2010

When does a simple £1,000 a month lease on a Land Rover SUV spark some scandal? When it’s made by a Television station that’s pleading poverty. Executives of the Welsh television channel S4C (Channel 4 Wales) went under fire from its audience after the station leased a Land Rover Discovery for its Welsh language program Cefn Gwlad.

S4C anchor man Dai Jones will be using the leased SUV for visiting farm locations for his S4C program. He also hosts a couple of other programs for the station, Rasus and Fferm Factor. It is estimated that he makes about £185,000 annually from these programs.

An ITV Wales spokesman says that “We ensure that the most cost effective and economical ways are followed when purchasing goods and services. This was the case for the long term hire of a suitable vehicle for the services of the programme Cefn Gwlad, a countryside programme that offers challenging filming locations around Wales throughout the year.”

An Insider Comments

A station production insider called the Western Mail to say that “It is a crazy waste of money to have leased a vehicle at £1,000 a month.

It’s true Dai travels all over Wales to visit remote farms of the countryside, but that doesn’t justify leasing a Land Rover Discovery. Any car will take you to a farm. If it’s a rocky terrain, you can use farmer’s tractor.”

“S4C is pleading poverty and telling production companies they will have to tighten belts. What sort of message does this send out? They should use the money they get more wisely.”

Funding Cuts Notwithstanding

S4C funding comes directly from the Department for Culture Media and Sport in London. Since being established in 1982, the station has benefited from generous funding increases with grants tied with inflation.

But after the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition came to power last month, with Jeremy Hunt as the new Culture Secretary, there have been concerns whether its inflation-adjusted funding will continue. S4C already took a “voluntary” funding cut of £2m for 2010, leading to speculation that the station will no longer enjoy immunity from future public sector funding cuts.

A senior TV industry insider intimated to the Western Mail: “S4C must be careful not to give the impression that it uses public funds unwisely”.

Jones, 66, was already a TV celebrity, hosting a family quiz show Siôn a Siân, when he took over the Cefn Gwlad shortly after it started airing in 1982. He also hosts a Sunday gala program for the BBC Radio Cymru, the Ar Eich Cais. Seen as a larger than life personality, Dai Jones is also a tenor, having won the riband prize from the National Eisteddfod back in 1970.

Tags: Cefn Gwlad, Land Rover, S4C
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A New Updated Range Rover for 2011

July 12th, 2010

Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover has made same significant upgrades to the 2010 Range Rover models for next model year. Expect the new 2011 Range Rover to have at least two major core enhancements – a more powerful diesel engine and an all new 8-speed automatic model.

Revamping the Engine

The Range Rover SUV brand has always sported two engine variants, one petrol and another diesel. The well-regarded 3.6 litre V8 diesel engine already morphed into a heavily re-engineered 3-litre version in the V6 diesel that was adopted for 2010 Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover Sport models, including the Jaguar XJ and XF models with improved fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions. This time, the V8 goes into another revamp allowing it to overtake the V6.

The V8 capacity is now increased to 4.4 litres providing 313 horsepower and a torque of 700 Newton-metres. In addition, its combined cycle fuel economy gets improved to 30.1 mpg, making this model the first Range Rover to breach the 30 mpg limits in official road tests. At the same time, CO2 emissions fall by as much as 14% though still on the heft side at 253 grams per kilometre.

ZF 8-speed Automatic Transmission

The diesel engine gets mated to a new 8-speed automatic transmission gear train which, like the previous 6-speeder, is sourced from the German gearbox specialist ZF. BMW has been using the same ZF 8-speeder on its flagship cars and SUV for a number of months now and Jaguar Land Rover is only too pleased to take the hint and play catch up even if the gear ratios make little sense on the road.

The new gearbox/engine allows the Range Rover diesel model to accelerate to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds and reach 130mph on the highway.

In the meantime, the current supercharged 5-litre petrol engine remains unchanged and will be offered for the 2011 model year along with the improved diesel model. It will continue to use the ZF 6-speed transmission gearbox. Both petrol and diesel models, however, will get an improved Terrain Response system exclusive to the Rover SUV line. It brings greater ease and manageability for less experienced Range Rover drivers to set its 4X4 drivetrain system to match any type of off-road conditions.

The new 2011 models will have small cosmetic changes as well as new equipment add-ons. Moreover, a specially accessorized 40^th anniversary limited edition in Autobiography Black will be offered next year to celebrate the launch of the Range Rover name in 1970.

Tags: 40th Anniversary, Jaguar, Range Rover, Tata
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New Range Rover LRX Spied

June 18th, 2010

It all started at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Tata owned Jaguar Land Rover unveiled its futuristic LRX SUV in black and white body styles that became an instant hit not only for its suave exterior aesthetics but also for a featured 2-liter hybrid diesel engine that runs on bio-diesel and promised 60 miles to a gallon which should make it a landmark in fuel efficiency.

Speculations were rife that it would carry the Range Rover name in time for the 40^th anniversary of the marque on June of 2010. These were confirmed in September 2009 with the LRX concept car to be built for the Range Rover Line in time for its 2011 model year. But it is expected to debut in the Paris Show of 2010. Engineered at JLR’s Gaydon factory in the UK, the baby range Rover LRX will be its smallest, lightest and most fuel-efficient SUV ever made.

It’s now the summer of 2010 and there have been spied pictures of the compact 2011 Range Rover LRX circulating online. For starters, it has a BMW-like stance that carries one of the smallest rear widows for an SUV. They look like those earlier prototypes spotted in test circuits at Nurburgring in Germany last year.

Industry pundits confirm the authenticity of these production-grade LRX in the photos but opine that they had been angled in a perspective shot that tended to make the windows look smaller than they really are. What is apparent from all these spy shots is that the baby Range Rover remains faithful to the concept car that disarmed car enthusiasts at the Detroit Car Show.

If these spy shots are a PR scheme from the JLR marketers, they’re doing a good job. The excitement generated with its debut in Detroit gets spruced up anew in time for its unveiling at the Paris shoe later this year. The forthcoming baby Range Rover is certainly as attractively sculpted as the one we saw in Detroit – a low-profile SUV-coupe crossover that exudes the usual air of snobbish elitism in a Range Rover.

A first Glimpse LRX Overview

We look forward to getting our first glimpse of the Range Rover LRX production model well in advance of its official launch at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. Word has it that the highly anticipated SUV will have its regular sale run in the UK sometime in May next year with an MSRP of around £33,000.

The Range Rover LRX will be the first in the Land Rover stable of SUVs to have front wheel drive that would allow it to pass the stringent emission standard of 130g/km and an average fuel efficiency of 50mpg as mandated by the new “green” road rules.

But these figures apply to its 2-liter turbo-diesel engine from PSA. A 2-liter 4-cylinder petrol engine is expected to be offered as an option but none of the V6 road monsters which are overkill for an SUV this size. Whatever happened to the promised hybrid diesel engine features in Detroit show is anyone’s guess.

Concept cars often end their lives in the drawing board but the LRX at least got off with the hybrid diesel never seeing the light of day. Perhaps it still might in future models.

Tags: Detroit Auto Show, Jaguar, Land Rover, Paris Show 2010, Range Rover LRX
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Jaguar Land Rover Goes To China

June 17th, 2010

It was just a matter of time. After getting a remarkable upsurge in sales of its Land Rover and Range Rover line, Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover is finally coming to its senses with plans to manufacture its vehicles in China.

Auto industry pundits have long opined that its plans to assemble car in labor-cheap China are essential in establishing Tata’s recently acquired marque as a global player in the automotive industry.

JLR currently has six automotive engineering, manufacturing and assembly plants in the UK, notably its engineering and design centers at Whitley in Coventry and in Gaydon, its Land Rover body assembly and paint shop in Halewood, two Midland factories for Land Rover in Solihull and Jaguar in Castle Bromwich and at Browns Lane in Coventry.

Earlier, there have been specializations that with the improved revenue streams of the company, the planned pull-out and closure of its UK plants in the Midlands would be reversed. But Indian Owner, Tata Motors have been quick to pour cold water onto the speculation. The plans has been reaffirmed only last for either its Solihull or Castle Bromwich to close with a final decision sometime next year.

Tata had bought JLR from US auto giant Ford in 2008 for ₤1.7 billion and has been losing money eversince. Only in May did it see its investment into JLR experience a return to profitability after losing ₤280 million over the months preceding the turnaround.

JLR reported last week it made a profit before tax of ₤32 million in May which saw a 42.3% increase in sales of its Land Rover over the same month last year. China’s performance was particularly impressive with more than a doubling of its sales over last year at 104% increase.

JLR’s Chief Executive Carl-Peter Forster had unraveled its company’s expansion plans into China while announcing the creation of 1,000 more jobs in the UK, extolling its return to profit and agreeing to sell off Browns Lane veneer factory in Coventry and pulling out of the Browns Lane factory as well.

Prof. David Bailey of the Coventry University’s Business School opined that JLR’s planned expansion into China wont’ impact on its production in the UK for as long as there’s growth in sales and they’re expanding. He says that what is more important as that “they invest and bring in a new range of models.”

He admits that JLR simply has too many UK plants and that he would not be surprised that even if production ramps up “from 200,000 to 300,000, as they plan to do, they only need two factories in the UK.”

JLR is also planning to create 1,000 new jobs to work on the new Range Rover model to be developed at its Halewood factory in Liverpool which has 3,500 engineers while looking to close down on one of its Midlands plants. At the same, Prof Bailey opines that Carl Forster expects UK government support with the Conservative party expected to shift its tax credit to support smaller companies and with roughly ₤400 million R&D money going to the UK, JLR hopes the UK government does not cut them off.

Tags: Carl-Peter-Forster, China, Jaguar, Land Rover, Range Rover, Tata
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Land Rover Defies the Global Economic Crunch with a 42% Sales Jump

June 16th, 2010

India’s Tata Motors group has declared that its Land Rover total sales shot up to 42.3% in May against last year’s sales for the same month. It sold 12,181 Land Rover vehicles more than what was sold in the same period last year.

A corporate press statement released this week revealed that its global markets exhibited strong sales performances compared with those of May last year. Its current sales performance for May has been improving “consistently since launching its 2010 model year line-up.” It may have helped a lot that its new Land Rover models “are equipped with the latest, most technologically advanced and efficient features in all of Land Rover’s history.”

Its domestic market from premium utility vehicles in India contributed the largest share with sales reaching 64% growth with 3.040 units sold. Its North American markets followed with sales climbing to 2,935 units to register a 24% sales increase.

China was next registering a phenomenal 104% increase with 2,026 units sold with Italy following with a 25.9% growth for selling 1.133 units. Meanwhile in the UK, its Freelander 2 remains its best seller for the May with 60% sales improvement against the same period last year. The Range Rover line-up showed the highest rate of market growth in May with a 121% increase in vehicle registration.

In addition, sales of other Land Rover vehicles like the Discovery 4 also registered increases at 84%, the Range Rover at 58% and the Defender at 32% for May 2010.

What do all these reveal? Not that the global economic recession is over though a lot of recovery signs are being seen everywhere. But far from it. It only shows that the premium markets for luxury SUVs remain unperturbed by any kind of economic slowdown caused by the larger consumer markets retreating form any spending activity. That’s because rich people remain essentially rich to go on as if nothing bad is happening around them despite middle classes losing their jobs and spending capacities.

The Land Rover name, much more that of the Range Rover, is not exactly your typical middle class or mass market product. Mass market cars below a certain price point tend to suffer diminished sales and reflect the overall economic downturn because they are pitched to markets worst hit by the economic crisis that started in 2008. Royalties, celebrities and the landed gentries are hardly bothered by all the woes and depressing economics around them while they continue to spend on the luxuries their money can afford.

In short, premium markets are not price sensitive. Nor are they dependent on the overall state of the economy. Even in countries with severe economic meltdown, rich people simply import what they want or travel overseas to do their shopping. This is one of the many things savvy brand manufacturers have long taken advantage of by coming out with upscale product lines that cater to the rich and moneyed so they remain afloat even in time of recession.

Tags: Land Rover, Land Rover Freelander 2, Range Rover, sales, Tata
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The 2010 Range Rover Sport Gets Better

June 15th, 2010

What do you do for an encore to something as ravishingly beautiful and powerful as the Range Rover Sport? Well, it doesn’t take that much imagination to see that there will always be something to make one to better itself. People who bought last year’s model won’t be beating their breast for not waiting for this one. But for sure, people who did procrastinate can now rush to get the 2010 model. Though we are pretty sure last year’s model will now have a less steep price tag than the $73,200 MSRP on the bare 2010 model.

What do you get for that price? A lot of Range Rover aura and all the oohs and aahs from onlookers as you glide down the road or get off-road are often too priceless to talk about price tags. But then, people who have been riding one for years are probably too jaded to savor them than when they first started. You still get that in today’s model.

More Power for the Powerful

But you also get options for a pair of new engines to bring the Range Rover Sport to a higher plane of performance. It also comes with some really functional cosmetics to distinguish it from its previous iteration.

Well on second look, the new engines are more a variant of the same banana – a 5 liter DOHC V8 that comes either normally aspirated or with supercharging. The normally aspirated variant delivers 375 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 367 lb-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm. Our test vehicle gets the supercharged variant which delivers 510 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 461 lb-ft torque at 2,500 rpm.

Is that an improvement? With last year’s supercharged engine dishing out a mere 400 hp, it’s a lot of improved power alright. The same goes for its naturally aspirated version which significantly exceeds its former version.

Forget about fuel efficiency. It’s still a pathetic 18.4 liters/km on city traffic and an even more pathetic 11.2 liters/km on the highway for the supercharged engine. But hey, people who can afford this baby have other things in mind than economize on fuel. It’s an aristocratic SUV that has no patience with peasant concerns.

But no matter, the new engines do benefit from today’s evolving green technologies and they are more efficient than their precursors, delivering more power without any perceptible penalty on your fuel. See? Even aristocrats can give a hoot.

More Styling to the Stylish

There’s a new front grill, if that matters to you. More significant is the new headlight and taillight configuration using LED lighting technology. That’s more functional than aesthetics as the new exterior lighting promises to be more power efficient while improving on its previous lighting system.

The exterior also gets new bumpers and air intake designs but the more cosmetic meat goes inside. The most obvious revision is in the dashboard with a cleaner instrumentation using less buttons and clutter. Dominating it is a touchscreen LCD display that takes over many of these controls and gauges with more control on the vehicles including its audio systems and HVAC.

Riding a Range Rover only makes you appreciate your status in life. Revised to deliver outrageous acceleration and speeds, it also pampers with its sybaritic comforts reserved for the regal and affluent only a luxury SUV can provide.

Tags: 2010 Range Rover Sport, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport
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Range Rover Enters Middle Age

June 15th, 2010

Surviving six changes of ownership in its lifetime, the now iconic Range Rover SUV celebrates 40 years of its existence on the road this week. It was on the 17^th of June 1970 when British Leyland launched the first generation Range Rover off-roader as a more comfortable and upscale version of its already famous Land Rover that was scheduled to end its line. The Range Rover remains in production to this day

It didn’t start out as a luxury 4X4 and had relatively spartan appointments by modern standards, but the first Range Rover was a landmark in the emerging Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) category of road vehicles that would soon see a marriage of luxury road sedan and sporting off-road 4X4 utility vehicle. It had the seeds to become the world’s first true “luxury” 4X4 off and on the on the road and became a sensation as a British icon on the road and earn the name today as the Range Rover Classic.

Even from the start, the first generation Range Rover carried its signature squarish exterior and formal stance inherited from the Land Rover’s rather upright and very British demeanor. It only had simple vinyl seats with molded rubber for its floors and plastic dashboards you can wash with hose. Features that would define it as a luxury SUV like air conditioning, power assisted steering, carpeting, leather/cloth seats and interior wood trims were only fitted much later in its 25 year of production.

Land Rover’s Managing Director Phils Popham has this to say about its Range Rover line. “It’s really 4 vehicles in 1. It’s a luxury motor car, a leisure car that can go anywhere over highways and no-ways, a high performance long distance tourer and a cross country utility vehicle.”

The “father” of the Range Rover line, Charles Spencer King, a former engineering chief of the company recalls that the Range Rover was designed “to combine the comfort and on-road finesse of a Rover saloon with the off-road muscle of a Land Rover. Nobody had done it before and it seemed worth the try as Land Rover was in need of a fresh new product.”

1995 saw the next generation Range Rover enter the markets with an updated Rover V8 engine and the option to use BMW’s V6 turbo diesel with the first electronically controlled diesel injected engine for the brand. Needless to say, it was at this time that the marque went out of British hands into Bavaria’s premier car company BMW that promptly gave it more “German” engineering. It was positioned way above the Land Rover Discovery and was more luxurious than the Mercedes Benz G-wagen.

By this time, the Range Rover name has firmly etched it enviable place as a topnotch luxury 4X4 that commanded a premium anywhere it was sold. In 2002, the new Land Rover owner Ford launched the 3^rd generation SUV flagship initially developed under BMW. Today, the Land Rover and range Rover marques are owned by the Tata Motors Group and maintain its factories in Solihull, England. By the end of 2010, there will be a new Range Rover “baby” to debut at the Paris Motor Show.

It is interesting to recall the roots of the Range Rover in the context of its selling price. You could have one for £1,998 in 1970. Today, you need to shell out £66,095.for a base model.

Tags: 40th Anniversary, Land Rover Discovery, Phils Popham, Range Rover, Tata
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