LAND ROVER LR2 WINS 2009 AUTOPACIFIC

Owners of the Land Rover LR2 have rated it top of its class in the Luxury Crossover Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) segment in AutoPacific 2009 Vehicle Satisfaction Award research. In addition, owners surveyed in the Luxury Crossover SUV segment voted the Land Rover LR2 the vehicle they would most recommend to others.

AutoPacific’s Vehicle Satisfaction Award (VSA) is an industry benchmark for objectively measuring how satisfied an owner is with their new car or light truck, and reflects the opinions of consumers nationwide. The VSA Awards summarize the results of AutoPacific’s 2009 model year vehicle satisfaction research. More than 25,000 consumers around the country participated in the survey.

“Winning these awards demonstrate that customers appreciate the breadth of capability that comes standard in a Land Rover and shows the value our owners put on the overall packaging of the LR2 and we are pleased with this recognition,” said Chris Marchand, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Land Rover North America.

“AutoPacific has conducted this industry research since 1997. Vehicles that score highest in AutoPacific’s Vehicle Satisfaction Awards have hit the mark delivering value and satisfaction with their buyers by performing well in 48 separate categories that measure the ownership experience.” says AutoPacific president George Peterson.

The Land Rover LR2 HSE offers permanent all-wheel drive with a 230 bhp In-line 6 engine, and features 19-inch alloy wheels, seven airbags (SRS), power tilt-and-slide dual-panel panoramic sunroof, and Land Rover’s patented Terrain Response System – Standard. It is this level of premium standard features that allows LR2 to provide tremendous value in its class, while demonstrating the refined on-road performance and off-road aptitudes for which the Land Rover brand is known.

Owner satisfaction is measured across specific areas related to a vehicle’s operation, comfort, safety and the overall purchase/lease experience. The 2009 ratings reflect input from buyers and lessees of new vehicles acquired September through December 2008.

Source: LRLmagazine

Tiret New York and LSE Design, London Launch the ‘Tiret Coupe’ at Baselworld 2009

Tiret New York and LSE Design, London presents the Tiret Coupe.

The ‘Tiret Coupe’ has been created by LSE Design’s highly talented team of designers and skilled automotive engineers. The Tiret Coupe takes the Range Rover to an enhanced level of design, comfort and speed.

Tiret New York’s accomplished designer Daniel Lazar and entertainment entrepreneur Damon Dash have produced luxury timepieces and jewelry since 2004. 

Tiret’s designs combine sensual shapes, brilliant diamonds, opulent natural hued stones, rare decorative materials, intriguing colored metals, Swiss precision and innovative technology.

Tiret and LSE Design have captured all that Tiret offer in style having diamonds and Swiss precision within a Coupe that takes motoring to the next level. Each ‘Tiret Coupe’ will be available with Tiret diamond dials and the unique ‘Tiret clock’  for those seeking the pure essence of luxury.

The ‘Tiret Coupe’ is for individuals with distinctive tastes in fine jewels and the ultimate driving experience, joining celebrities, personalities, style and fashion leaders all aspiring to own this exclusive brand.

Every element of the Tiret Coupe has been appraised and there has been no compromise. The brief to the design team was simple yet infinitely demanding… The best of everything.

An incomparable blend of power, luxury and in line with tradition the “Coupe” styling, equate to the ultimate SUV ever produced.

The exterior body styling design includes flared wheel arches, twin chromed LSE tailpipes, LED lighting and 22” LSE alloy wheels, contributing to its dynamic good looks. A full glass panoramic sunroof provides an exceptional feeling of light and space. The interior includes sumptuous sculptured ‘Nappa’ leather seating, whilst being surrounded in fine wood and the ultimate in diamonds, unique to the owner.

The Tiret Coupe comes with a full three year warranty. Servicing and warranty work can be carried out at your local Land Rover dealership.

Please join us in Basel, Switzerland at Baselworld 2009, for a preview of the new ‘Tiret Coupe’ March 26th – April 2nd 2009.  Hall 4.1 Stand A11

Source: TheLandRoverBlog

Intrawest and Land Rover North America Announce Strategic Partnership

New Partnership Allows Land Rover to Access Mountain Vacations and Enhance the Experience at Copper Mountain, Winter Park Resort and Steamboat

GOLDEN, CO and NEW YORK, March 23 /PRNewswire/ - Intrawest, a leader in the development and management of experiential destination resorts, today announced a new strategic partnership between Land Rover North America and three of the premiere mountain resorts in Colorado-Copper Mountain, Winter Park Resort and Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation.

Intrawest's resort guests will have the opportunity to experience Land Rover's breadth of capability through a series of special promotional activities that include driving the latest vehicle line-up off-road.

A key highlight of the partnership will focus on "Land Rover Experience Days" which will provide an opportunity for resort guests to learn safe driving tips and drive off-road with a Driving Instructor on a specially constructed course. Land Rover Experience Days are scheduled to take place at Winter Park Resort over two weekends: Saturday, March 28 - Sunday, March 29, 2009 and Saturday, April 4 - Sunday, April 5, 2009. Reserve your space by emailing nlogue@landrover.com.

"We're thrilled to welcome this distinguished brand and company to our resorts in Colorado, as a partner," said Andy Wirth, Intrawest's chief marketing officer. "In turn, our resorts provide unparalleled access to an active and affluent customer base for the world renowned Land Rover brand."

"This new relationship with Intrawest and their award-winning resorts in Colorado is an opportunity to connect with adventure-seekers accustomed to world class experiences," said Finbar McFall, Vice President Marketing, Land Rover North America. "Land Rover is unique in its ability to deliver such activities and this partnership with Copper Mountain, Winter Park and Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation promises to be nothing short of that."

About Intrawest

Intrawest is a leader in the development and management of experiential destination resorts. The company has interests in ten resorts at North America's most popular mountain destinations including Whistler Blackcomb, a host venue for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The Intrawest network also includes Canadian Mountain Holidays, the largest heli-skiing operation in the world, Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Florida and Club Intrawest-a private resort club with locations throughout North America. In addition, Intrawest develops, markets and sells real estate at its resorts and at other locations across North America and in Europe. Intrawest is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and is a portfolio company owned primarily by private equity funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC. For more information, visit www.intrawest.com

About Land Rover North America

Since 1948 Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4x4s that represent true 'breadth of capability' across the model range. Defender, LR2 (Freelander 2), LR3 (Discovery 3), Range Rover Sport and Range Rover each define the world's 4x4 sectors, with 78% of this model range exported to over 140 countries. Land Rover employs 8,500 people and supports a further 40,000 jobs supported in the supply chain.

Land Rover takes its responsibility to the environment seriously. Emissions have been cut with all new models and, together with Jaguar, it is investing (pnds stlg)700m on technology specifically aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Also, since September 2006, carbon dioxide generated by Land Rover manufacturing activities and UK customer vehicle use has been balanced through an industry leading offset program run by Climate Care.

SOURCE Intrawest ULC

Range Rover Facelift Latest Spy Photos Reveal New Details

Fresh spy shots of a facelifted Land Rover Range Rover have emerged. The current model of the big luxury SUV has been on the market for the past seven years. It had a mild facelift in 2006.

These new images reveal a bit more exterior detail than previous spy shots. They show a front bumper with new fog lights and newly-designed rear lights. The front end is getting LED daytime running lights while the rear lights also get LED technology. Changes to the interior will only be minor because this part of the car was recently upgraded with higher quality materials.

The Range Rover is expected to get a couple of new engines, one of which is already fitted to its Jaguar XF cousin. This particular engine is the AJ-V6D Gen III 3.0-litre V6 twin turbo diesel which is found in the new XF Diesel S. It produces 275PS (202kW) and maximum torque of 600Nm. Such a torque figure would be quite suited to a vehicle of this size. The AJ-V6D Gen III S Diesel replaces the 2.7-litre that was popular with Jaguar S Type buyers.

A brand new Range Rover is only expected to start selling in the year 2011 as a 2012 model year so this second facelift is more like a stop-gap to prolong the lifespan of the current car. Due to hightened environmental concern the next-generation Range Rover is getting downsized. It was recently announced that the production version of the LRX concept which was unveiled in Detroit 2008 will inherit the Range Rover name.

Source: World Car Fans

Land Rover's most fuel-efficient car drives out of Halewood

Halewood, Merseyside, England, 16 March 2009 - The first official Freelander 2 TD4_e was produced at the Jaguar Land Rover assembly facility at Halewood today. 

The new vehicle is Land Rover’s most fuel-efficient to date and is the world's first SUV to feature an intelligent Stop-Start system. It is also the first production vehicle to incorporate technologies from the Land Rover’s programme of sustainable engineering initiatives, collectively named ‘e_TERRAIN TECHNOLOGIES’.

During the standard EU4 Cycle, the CO2 emissions of the Freelander 2 TD4_e are reduced by 8%, compared with the outgoing manual diesel Freelander 2. Fuel economy also improves from 37 mpg to over 42 mpg and, in real world tests, Land Rover engineers have measured fuel savings approaching 20% in heavy urban traffic. 

Land Rover's new Stop-Start system improves fuel efficiency in urban and stop-start driving. The vehicle automatically shuts down the engine in appropriate conditions, resulting in zero tail-pipe emissions and saving fuel which otherwise is used idling the engine when stationary. But the engine will instantly re-start when the driver is ready to move off. 

There are also sophisticated controls in place to help ensure the Stop-Start system does not compromise the needs of either the driver or vehicle. For the engine to shut down, the vehicle must be stationary, the gearbox in neutral and the clutch pedal raised. To restart, the driver simply depresses the clutch and the enhanced starter motor engages the engine, ready for when first gear is selected. 

The Stop-Start system is automatically activated each time the ignition is turned on, although there is a switch on the fascia to disable the system, if the driver so desires.

Phil Popham, Land Rover’s Managing Director, said: “The Stop-Start Freelander 2 is the first production vehicle to benefit from the massive £800 million investment in sustainable technologies by Jaguar and Land Rover. The Stop-Start feature will be included as standard on all Freelander 2 TD4 manual models, with no associated increase in list prices."
 
The Porcelain White 'Job One' vehicle, which is destined for a customer in Spain, rolled off the production line at 11.00. Those members of the Halewood workforce who have been instrumental in ensuring a successful launch of the new vehicle were present to celebrate. 

Michael Straughan, Operations Director for Halewood Operations, said: "Everyone at Halewood is delighted to be building a vehicle which uses this very special Stop-Start technology. It is the first time that a Land Rover product has utilised a system from the ‘e_TERRAIN TECHNOLOGIES’ package and we have been working hard to ensure the product is launched with exceptional build quality.

Prototypes of the vehicle have already received excellent feedback from automotive journalists and dealers and we should see the first production vehicles in dealerships around the world, in a few weeks time."

The Halewood facility employs 2000 people and is recognised throughout the industry as an example of excellence for quality and lean manufacturing. Halewood also builds the Jaguar X-TYPE alongside the Freelander 2. 

Source: Land Rover P/R

Concept 802 Wide body Range Rover Sport....

Concept 802 graciously offered up these photos for your viewing pleasure.  It's their new wide body kit to fit the Range Rover Sport in a stunning gloss black finish.  It's simply gorgeous.  They've taken the already sexy lines of the Sport and turned her into a red light district vixen on prowl.  

Source: LRL

Land Rover LRX Production Version to be Badged Range Rover - First Image Surfaces

The UK Government has confirmed a grant offer of up to £27 million is to be made available to Land Rover for the production of an all-new car. The company is due to make a final decision on the the go-ahead of the project at its award-winning plant in Halewood, on Merseyside, later this year.

The car would be based on Land Rover's acclaimed LRX Concept vehicle, first shown at the Detroit Show last year, and would be the smallest, lightest and most efficient it has ever produced.

"We welcome the Government's support for this project, which would form a key part of our future product plans and which we very much want to put into production," said Phil Popham, Managing Director of Land Rover.

The grant offer will be made available under the Government's Grant for Business Investment scheme and is an important contribution towards the overall £400 million cost of the project. This is separate from the broader automotive support package currently being unveiled by the Government.

Although it still has to go through a number of approval gateways in the product development process before getting the final go-ahead, Land Rover has also confirmed that the new car would be a key addition to the Range Rover family of luxury vehicles.

Phil Popham said, "Our engineering feasibility study has shown that we can very successfully deliver Range Rover levels of quality, drivability and breadth of performance in a more compact, more sustainable, package. Feedback from the most extensive customer research we have ever undertaken also fully supports our belief that a production version of the LRX Concept would further raise the desirability of our brand and absolutely meet all those expectations."

"It would be the smallest, lightest and most efficient Range Rover that we've ever built," Phil added. "The compact size, lighter weight and sustainability-focused technologies of the LRX Concept showed how Land Rover is planning to respond to the needs of a changing world. Despite the current economic challenges, we remain committed to investing for the future, to continue to deliver relevant vehicles for our customers, with the outstanding breadth of capability for which we are world-renowned."

The new Range Rover would embrace excellent levels of refinement and all-round capability and also introduce new powertrain options, providing a major step forward in enabling the implementation of Land Rover's e-terrain technologies strategy and achievement of its goal to exceed a 20 per cent improvement in CO2 emissions.

"Both the design and size of the LRX Concept have generated a hugely positive reaction wherever it has been seen and we've also gathered fresh insights on what potential owners would look for in a production equivalent. That knowledge is now being applied to the process of refining the vehicle as it heads towards final approval," said Phil.

The Halewood facility employs 2000 people and is a recipient of the JD Power Gold Standard. It currently produces the Land Rover Freelander 2 and Jaguar X-TYPE.

Source: Land Rover USA