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 40th 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.
Archive for June, 2010
New Range Rover LRX Spied
Friday, June 18th, 2010Jaguar Land Rover Goes To China
Thursday, 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.
Land Rover Defies the Global Economic Crunch with a 42% Sales Jump
Wednesday, 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.
The 2010 Range Rover Sport Gets Better
Tuesday, 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.
Range Rover Enters Middle Age
Tuesday, 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 17th 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 3rd 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.