Land Rover has embarked on a massive new model blitz that could more than double its annual sales by 2020. It is almost certainly the biggest investment that the UK car industry has ever seen. Land Rover’s future model line-up will fully cover the three main areas of the booming global SUV market — luxury, leisure and utility.
According to Land Rover’s design director Gerry McGovern, the brand is set to expand all three of its model families. The plans include additional models for the Range Rover line-up, a new Defender family and a radical expansion of the Freelander range that will create four new ‘leisure’ SUVs during the next seven years.
Land Rover sources refuse to estimate the potential size of the car-maker once the seven-year plan has been introduced. However, market data suggests the global SUV market will reach 22 million units by 2020. If, by radically expanding its line-up, Land Rover captured around three per cent of that market, it would be close to producing 600,000 vehicles annually.
Hilton Holloway: What is Land Rover chasing?
According to what McGovern describes as a “holistic approach” to its future range, Land Rover plans to extend the Range Rover line-up to six models, including an ‘Evoque XL’, which slots into the hole that currently exists between the Evoque and the new Range Rover Sport and a convertible Evoque. A baby three-door Range Rover just 4m long is also being considered.
The new Land-Rover-badged ‘leisure’ line-up will have at least five new models, kicking off with an entry-level Freelander similar in size to today’s Evoque. The Freelander itself will be reinvented in five-seat and seven-seat forms. The range will be topped by a new Discovery, which could switch to an aluminium platform, and be offered as a flagship to rival the successful BMW X5.
In the ‘dual purpose’ or ‘utility’ segment, Land Rover’s plan indicates that a production version of the Evoque-based DC100 is heading for the showroom, as well as the long-discussed replacement for the Defender.
McGovern’s plan shows outline drawings for five-seat and seven-seat new Defenders as well as a crew-cab pick-up.
This dramatic expansion will put a huge strain on the investment and engineering capabilities of Jaguar Land Rover. JLR boss Ralf Speth has already spoken about 40 new JLR product launches in the next five years. He has pledged £2bn a year to underpin this, with the £10bn investment funding at least one new platform, plus increased capacity in the UK.
However, not all of this investment is expected to be focused on the UK. JLR is wisely spreading its production footprint around the world to take advantage of booming global markets.
Reports from China in early October said that the JLR joint venture with Chinese car maker Chery gained approval in record time from the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission.
About £1.8 billion will be invested in a new Chinese plant that will, in the first stages, have the capacity to build 130,000 vehicles per year, about 60 per cent of which will be Land Rover models.
Reports say that Land Rover sales in China hit 47,975 units in the first eight months of the year, 85 per cent up on the same period in 2011. Its 96 Chinese dealer outlets will also soon be expanded by a further 47 showrooms.
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C2_Matt
Defender
Please don't ruin the Defender! it's the only real working mans Land Rover left, the others have become footballers cars.
vel
16 New LR
all due to the investments poured in by the tata group .. & their bussiness plans ... never in JLR history they were agressive as they are today ...
LP in Brighton
Why tell the world?
Most companies have ambituous future model ploans, but why is Land Rover telling the world and in so much detail?
Maybe the clue is that this rapid expansion "will put a huge strain on the investment and engineering capabilities of Jaguar Land Rover". Could it be that the company is also looking to secure some contribution for all this from the government?
Ruperts Trooper
I want a 7-seat Freelander - at a sensible price
It's good to hear they'll reposition the LR Freelander downmarket from the RR Evoque - and hopefully reduce the price - the 7-seat version will be a good alternative for those of us "stuck" with Korean imports, as good as they are.
Lanehogger
The difference between a Land Rover and Range Rover is?
"The range will be topped by a new Discovery, which could switch to an aluminium platform, and be offered as a flagship to rival the successful BMW X5." Isn't this car which the Range Rover Sport already competes with? If Land Rover are unable to identify their market and rivals, no wonder some models are suffering. When the Disco 3 was revised to become Disco 4 it moved away from its more conventional 4x4 roots to tackle the X5 alongside it's sister RR Sport, yet Disco 4 sales are now flagging while RR Sport sales are relatively strong. Even the recently revamped Freelander is now as plush as its sister Evoque.
Land Rover needs to identify what the brand stands for as at the moment there are model overlaps with no real clear outlook on which models are supposing to be doing what job. The Land Rover cars should be more rough and ready conventional 4x4s while Range Rovers should be SUVs, while platforms can still be shared. Disco 3 and the RR Sport for example are the same underneath and occupied the class, but one was focussed for the dirty stuff, the other more of a lifestyle vehicle. Now Disco 4 is a plush as the RR Sport. JLR should even consider whether Range Rover should now be a brand in its own right. Toyota does it with its Lexus and Toyota 4x4s and that method works very well.
Dazed and Confused
Makes sense
Utility line - Small through to big
Leisure line - Small through to big
Premium line - Small through to big
Can we expect Land Rover not to confuse those within minutes ('Premium utility' leather interior 2wd Defender, etc.)? Probably not.
Walking
Why complain about choice
I agree there appears to be much cross over but they are different in the metal. As a consummer I like the idea of more choice if it financially works for JLR all the better. We haven't yet seen the Jaguar SUV yet which will throw in even more options!
merson
Those wheels look ridiculous
I still can't believe that some manufacturers still think that putting large wheels on their cars make them look better. Already it is known that there is a correlation between the larger size of wheel option chosen and the lack of taste/intelligence of the purchaser.
Wheels such as in the picture of this article are the ultimate example of an ‘avocado bathroom’ fad which in this case has lasted about 10 years but went out of fashion about 3 years ago.
Ski Kid
Discovery 4
when I looked at the sales and production figures the volumes for Disco 4 where even greater not less as you think,the only one lower was freelander.
Harry P
Customer choice
When has too much choice been a problem? If Land Rover can find customers for all these new variants then it can only be good news for the UK job market. Even if some models end up being made abroad. As long as the new Defender (DC100) remains true to Land Rovers routes of being a practical and basic vehicle fit for the purpose of hard work then surely it does not matter if the Freelander becomes a little plusher? Of course there will always be those who want to put big blingy wheels on a Defender just as they do with the current model.
The option of 7 a seven seat Freelander will enable it to appeal to a wider market and those unable or unwilling to pay the high price of a Discovery. Range Rover models have long since become a version for those who want style over practicality so why not extend the range to appeal to an even wider market?
Bring on the new models JLR!
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