The new Evoque will use the same Range Rover platform launched last week but will use narrower aperture doors in the rear and shorter doors on the front for a scheduled product launching in 2012.

The largest automobile maker in India seems to be on an overhauling binge for its Jaguar and Land Rover marques. This is an upbeat indication of its optimism on a resurgent world markets for luxury vehicles. It is also planning to get a revised Freelander model released, a reclassification of the Land Rover Defender line, a new engine for its Range Rover Sport SUV and a possibly streamlined Discovery diesel SUV stable.

The Range Rover Sport SUV slated for 2011 release will get a new engine built around a 3 liter 6-cylinder TDV6 diesel.  Its 268 Bhp 3.6-liter 8-cylinder TDV8 will get replaced by a variant of the Jaguar twin-turbo 3-liter V6 petrol engine delivering 271 Bhp.

In a decision seen as controversial among its customers, the new and more powerful 305 Bhp 4.4-liter 8-cyclinder TDV8 will be fitted as the standard engine for the main Range Rover which has been anticipated by many of its customers to be used in a V8 Range Rover Sport.

That apparently, won’t become a reality.  A lower 241 Bhp 3-liter TFV6 diesel with single turbo charging is more likely to be used for its entry level diesel Range Rover Sport.

The new Freelander slated for release in 2011 is now set for production with noticeable interior changes such as a new dashboard instrument panel design and gauges as well as a redesigned center console and switchgear that are expected to bring the Freelander cabin to a more luxurious level.

In addition, there will be more soft-touch synthetic parts with a closer affinity to the Land Rover Discovery SUV in terms of finish, fit and trim.  Tata Motors expect these changes to offer customers of the new Freelander more value for the money.

For the Land Rover Discovery, product streamlining is reserved for its diesel line next year starting with an entry level 193 Bhp 2.7 liter 6-cylinder TDV6 engine getting phased out in favor of a new and more powerful 241 Bhp 3-liter TDV6.   Its top of the line Discovery will now be powered by a twin-turbocharged TDV6 delivering 271 Bhp.

The company will also be reclassifying the classic Land Rover Defender line as a commercial vehicle in a move seen by automobile observers as being prompted by new and more stringent legal mandates on vehicle size and weight in the US and European markets.  The reclassification, however, is not expected to result in any engineering, technical or cosmetic change to the current model, so far.

The Brits are Serena Davis, Tamsin Davis and Adam Whitaker who have received a ₤10,000 grant and a Land Rover Defender 110 from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in Gaydon , UK .

The team forms part of the Fault Line Living group and is scheduled to depart August 3 from Harwick to mark the start of its epic journey beginning with Iceland and then traverse 15,000 miles to Iran , stopping by countries known to sit along the earth’s geographic fault lines.

Over a 12-week period, the team will document the issues facing the communities living on these fault lines.

Iceland is home to something like 78 earthquakes each day.  From there, the team will head to Greece, Italy, Turkey, Greece, and then to Iran  Along the chosen route, they will have the opportunity to work with local seismologists, students and select citizens in each country to investigate how the various communities learn and adapt to everyday risks they face living along these fault lines.

Tamsin Davies has this to say about the undertaking: “It’s taken months of preparation to get to this stage, and we are looking forward to getting started. Between us, we have already visited many communities that experience harsh geographical conditions on a daily basis. This expedition enables us to go beyond our existing work and create a detailed record of our experiences which we’ll share with schools and other organizations on our return.”

Dr. Rita Garner, the director of the Royal Geographical Society says that the project became a reality thanks to its 30 year partnership with the Land Rover Company.  The expedition will serve the society’s objective of promoting a “wider understanding of our world.”

Other expeditions carried out by previous award recipients include last year’s winner Atlantic Rising which is another team now navigating around the Atlantic Ocean along a 1 meter contour line that geologists forecast could be the new coastline after 100 years.

Land Rover’s partnership with the society is at the heart of its business activity which has been known to sponsor partners like the RGS-IBG.  Along with affiliate company Jaguar, the noted SUV marque is investing ₤800 million in developing sustainable technologies such as hybrid sources of power and applications for lightweight materials.  Its dedication to sustainability is seen with the manufacture of the Land Rover Defender 110 which gets carbon offset via ClimateCare running the Land Rover’s Carbon emission offset program in China , the Middle East, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the UK .

If you want to have regular updates on the Fault Line Living team’s progress, you can visit its website at faultlineliving.com.  And for added information, check out Go Beyond Bursary at rgs.org/grants.  For more details about Land Rover’s sustainability program you may visit landrover.com/ourplanet and for details about the Land Rover Experience visit Land Rover Training.

The Tata Group’s board chairman Ratan Tata reveals that under the Jaguar brand, its Jaguar Land Rover Company will be introducing an entry level station wagon and a new roadster. This revelation is made by India’s largest automobile maker in terms of sales in its annual report for its fiscal year ending March 31^st released only last Monday.

It should be remembered that Tata Motors bought the iconic British Jaguar and Land Rover marques from Ford Motors Co back in March 2008 for a reported $2.3 billion.

This happened amidst a developing global market meltdown that saw vehicle sales in US and European markets slump to record lows and almost closed down the big 4 Detroit car makers.  The marque was previously owned by BMW before Ford bought it in 2000.

While the first two years of the marque under Tata’s ownership proved to be a headache, with the first quarter of its preceding fiscal year well into its second year of ownership, still showing depressed market demands for the two brands.  But the last quarter of the same fiscal year extending into early 2010 showed remarkable improvements resulting in a net profit of ₤3 million ($4.7 million) for the JLR company.

The market has steadily shown signs of recovery and the increasing market demand for JLR models and the improved sales prove it, the report revealed.  It further indicated its plans to concentrate its marketing initiatives on the emerging Middle East and China markets.

The company also disclosed its plans to have the entire Land Rover SUV line revamped and has already started with a new sport utility vehicle model Evoque under the Range Rover brand.  There are also new Land Rover vehicles with more fuel efficient and hybrid engines on the drawing board.

As part of its plans, Tata Motors is setting its sights on expanding its international market presence and the company is considering putting up new manufacturing facilities overseas. An assembly plant in South Africa is expected to start operating soon for its commercial vehicles.

During the last fiscal year, Tata Motors report that its commercial vehicle exports rose moderately to 27,878 units up by 4.7% over the previous fiscal year, while its passenger vehicle exports experienced a 9.9% decline to just 6.231 units against the same period.

The company expects this numbers to improve starting this fiscal year.  Outside of the JLR brand, the company says it is working to develop model variants of its indigenous cars Indigo Manza, Indica Vista and the Nano, considered the world’s cheapest car, for international markets.

Forgoing the brand’s all-terrain all wheel drivetrain in favor of what it claims to be a far more efficient FWD system,  the new Freelander 2 for the model year 2011 gets some minimal interior and exterior changes and will be offered on a its diesel model only.

The baby Rover’s interior does get a reworked set of dashboard gauges, new seats, carpeting and a revised stowage, just a bit shy of the interior rehash in other 2011 Land Rover SUVs.

Outward, you need to look a bit closer. The 2011 Freelander 2 gets a new bumper cap with redesigned fog lamps and grille finish, enhanced headlights and taillights and new spoke patterns on its new set of alloy wheels.

The core of the changes is a redesigned 2.2 liter turbo diesel in the eD4 engine which manages to spew 150 bhp. It is expected to deliver improved fuel economy at 47.2 miles to a gallon while emitting a more environment friendly 158g/km of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

For comparative purposes, the preceding model only manages 42.2 mpg and 179h/km in carbon emission.

In the meantime, the 148 bhp 4X4 diesel version of the Freelander is introduced for the 2011 model year with similarly better emissions control and fuel mileage over its preceding 160 bhp model at 14% when fitted with an optional automatic gearbox or 8% when fitted with the standard manual gearbox.

There’s also a 187 bhp variant of the same turbocharged diesel engine mated to an automatic gear train joining the 2011 product range for its debut in the UK markets starting end of September. After that, the other eD4 models will enter the markets staring January 2011 with prices yet to be announced.

Speaking about its historic first departure from the 4-wheel drive configuration for the Freelander, Land Rover’s managing director Phil Popham commented that “A 2WD option is just one way in which we are developing our vehicles’ efficiency whilst adding to the Land Rover range and expanding our appeal to a broader group of customers. We will continue to make the ‘world’s finest all-terrain vehicles’ for those customers who require 4WD but will also now offer an alternative.”

Tata Motors, owners of the Land Rover marque must have made some long overdue market research that points to SUVs being used more on city streets than off roads.  But that’s more the preferred practice with expensive upmarket SUVs like the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne, not with cheap entry level Freelanders.

Admittedly, the new FWD drive Freelander 2 should appeal to the youthful markets of city executives who want to look trendy on an SUV but without having to fork on their awful sticker prices.  And they surely have little need for a 4X4 off-road trekking.  The new Freelander 2 eD4 should fit the bill nicely.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.