Currently reading: New York motor show 2012: Land Rover to expand
Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern has confirmed the firm will expand into new market segments

Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern has confirmed the firm will expand into new market segments. The comments increase speculation models including the ‘Evoque XL’, a DC100-inspired entry-level Land Rover and seven-seat Range Rover Sport will make production.

Speaking at an event marking 25 years of Land Rover sales in North America, McGovern said: “Land Rover will give much greater relevance to far more people in the future. Look at the Evoque as an example; no-one had ever offered anything like that before.”

On the eve of the New York motor show, McGovern said all future Land Rover products would blend innovative design with intelligent engineering, and there was a desire within the company to make increasingly luxurious products.

“Design will be at the core of our future products,” he said, “with perfect integration of design and engineering teams. We’ll create true luxury products in the future.”

The special event to celebrate the 25th anniversary was held in New York, a city McGovern said was “perfect” for experiencing the luxury attributes of Range Rover products.

“New York understands luxury,” he said. “You feel cocooned in a Range Rover in New York and feel elevated amongst the skyline.”

Mark Tisshaw

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Mark Tisshaw

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Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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PhilM4000 9 April 2012

Re: New York show: Land Rover to expand

Paddler Ed wrote:
Never mind sub-saharan Africa they need to sort out getting some market share beyond the suburbs in Australia; I'm currently on a campsite in South Australia where there are 7 Land Cruisers, 3 Patrols and a Ford F150, i've not seen a Land Rover product since I got clear of a reasonable distance of Melbourne. Spent a day bush bashing and all I saw were Land Cruisers or Patrols, with a couple of Hi-Luxes and some other smaller utes. As I keep saying Land Rover need a decent 3-4 litre diesel that has a MGVM of 3450kg, and the ability to go to 4350kg, with a payload of about 1300kg as stock. Decent reliable diesel engine with 6 or 8 cylinders, that's low tech enough that it doesn't need massive diagnostics to fix it, and capable of 400,000km in it's lifetime; fuel economy of about 14l/100km or better (that would put it on par with a 200 series Land Cruiser) Idealy live axles front and rear rather than IFS at the front. Option of diff locks and wash out interior would be popular as well. If they can do that then they'd start to get back into Australia beyond the cities. Even if they have to buy in a diesel from somewhere, Cummins or someone similar spring to mind, or fit Isuzu diesel engines again, as the service network beyond the cities is in place.
Given the small number of people in Australia and the hard life vehicles get which must impact warranty claims I suspect Land Rover have no intention of making any specific adjustments for that market. They have learned to make money you need high transaction prices, the Evoke probably only costs as much to make as an Insignia but sells for twice the price.

Paddler Ed 9 April 2012

Re: New York show: Land Rover to expand

Never mind sub-saharan Africa they need to sort out getting some market share beyond the suburbs in Australia; I'm currently on a campsite in South Australia where there are 7 Land Cruisers, 3 Patrols and a Ford F150, i've not seen a Land Rover product since I got clear of a reasonable distance of Melbourne. Spent a day bush bashing and all I saw were Land Cruisers or Patrols, with a couple of Hi-Luxes and some other smaller utes. As I keep saying Land Rover need a decent 3-4 litre diesel that has a MGVM of 3450kg, and the ability to go to 4350kg, with a payload of about 1300kg as stock. Decent reliable diesel engine with 6 or 8 cylinders, that's low tech enough that it doesn't need massive diagnostics to fix it, and capable of 400,000km in it's lifetime; fuel economy of about 14l/100km or better (that would put it on par with a 200 series Land Cruiser) Idealy live axles front and rear rather than IFS at the front. Option of diff locks and wash out interior would be popular as well. If they can do that then they'd start to get back into Australia beyond the cities. Even if they have to buy in a diesel from somewhere, Cummins or someone similar spring to mind, or fit Isuzu diesel engines again, as the service network beyond the cities is in place.

thebaldgit 7 April 2012

Re: New York show: Land Rover to expand

This is an obvious move as the number of people look for LR's are increasing year on year so they need to expand their range to meet demand.