It’s more of a public secret by now but today Land Rover has officially come out to say that a small Land Rover based on the LRX concept will be built! After all, the UK government previously offered a grant of up to GBP 27 million to the automaker to produce an all- new vehicle based on the LRX Concept.
And apparently it’s going to be marketed under the Range Rover badge, since the press release constantly refers to it as a Range Rover instead of a Land Rover. This will mean the Range Rover series will have a third model – small, medium and large.
The original Range Rover is the large model and a new “medium” model was previously added, a model based on the Discovery called the Range Rover Sport. The flagship has a wheelbase of 2,880mm while the smaller Disco-based sport has a wheelbase of 2,745mm. That would make the LRX quite compact indeed as even the new “small” BMW X1 has a wheelbase of 2,760mm, longer than the Sport’s.
The production LRX will be built at Land Rover’s plant in Halewood, and will be the smallest, lightest and most efficient vehicle the company has ever produced. The original LRX concept was a 2-door compact SUV powered by a hybrid powertrain that combined a 2.0 litre turbodiesel and an Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD) which allows it to run on zero-emissions electric mode at speeds of up to 32km/h.
“The new vehicle will be a natural extension to the Range Rover line-up, complementing the existing models and helping to define a new segment. It will be true to the concept and have many recognisable Range Rover design cues including the signature clamshell bonnet, the floating roof and the solid ‘wheel-at-each-corner’ stance,” said Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design director.
However I wonder if the UK government’s 27 million pound offer still stands, because of a particular announcement that Tata made today. Their intention is to close either a Jaguar plant in Castle Bromwich, or a Land Rover plant in Solihull, both in central England.
Their intention is probably to centralise production of both marques at a single plant – either Solihull or Castle Bromwich. As it is, the Halewood plant I mentioned above was a Jaguar plant, and the first Land Rover that started production there was the Freelander 2. But Tata did say there would be no compulsory layoffs…
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
2 doors? wow. handsome car.
Looking good and expensive
Looks racing
if i become successful mafia.. i will buy one.. =)
This is the only Range Rover i will buy. Super awesome looking car.
It sure looks good but going by what Range Rover is offering in Malaysia, it sure won't be cheap!
It'll more likely positoned as a premium sports SUV.
Wow.! very very nice and impressive design.
Love it!
Being a Range Rover instead of a Land Rover, this baby won't come cheap!
Looks bulky and muscular: love it!
look nice & modern oso..
wow! I am impressed!
they are pushing "range" just like amg does to their every class.
they need to send this proposal to nissan, or mini. because so far, the companies that manage to turn concept car into proper production cars are nissan and mini.
They are more likely to close castle bromwich as that is the older factory
Damn land rover….why must they put it under range rover mark..this THING is gonna cost a bomb….:(
Very Sporty………Nice
cool!!
sh*t im drooliing….damn nice
make mine a land rover defender, but with a modern commonrail diesel engine. i just love the boxiness like the old volvo 200 series
nice SUV. like it very much. will compete with Lexus RX and Audi Q5 or more higher class?
tat rr is so hot man.
nice SUV among the range.
I want a black one!
fantastic…
damn so nice car!!!gona get it!!y everyone goes for y-spoke kind of sport rim nowadays??i like 5 spoke like ferrari
niceeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!