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 liter 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…

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

The Discovery was called the LR3 in the US for some marketing reason or another, but isn’t it stretching it too far to call the facelift a LR4? Land Rover doesn’t seem to think so, so here’s the Land Rover LR4, which is what the rest will know as the Discovery 3 facelift, unless they decide to call it the Discovery 4 too?

There is a new 5.0 liter LR-V8 that comes with this new model, that replaces the 4.4 liter outgoing engine. It has direct injection too (rated at 150 bar with twin high pressure fuel pumps), and puts out 375 horsepower and 508Nm of torque while keeping to US ULEV2 standards. The V8 also idles at a lower speed – 600rpm instead of 700rpm.

Other changes are mostly equipment level and aesthetics. Look after the jump for a full hi-res gallery.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

Last year, Land Rover attended the Detroit Auto Show and unveiled the LRX Concept which is a lightweight 2-door compact SUV with a 2.0 liter turbodiesel hybrid powertrain that has the potential to produce only 120 grams of emissions per kilometer, while delivering 100 kilometers of driving range with just 4.7 liters of fuel. On that note, the U.K Government has decided to extend a grant offer of up to GBP 27 million to the auto maker to produce an all new new vehicle based on the LRX Concept.

Land Rover later revealed that it is considering to take on the project, and that it would require about GBP 400 million in total cost. If the LRX Concept goes into production, it would be the smallest, lightest and most efficient vehicle to be produced by the TATA-owned auto maker. The LRX Concept was named “Concept Truck of the Year” at the auto show, meaning it got good reviews from the people.

The LRX Concept also features an Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD) that allows the it to run on electric drive alone at lower speeds of up to 32 km/h, with the turbodiesel engine able to start automatically and smoothly on demand while on the move. The powerplant can also be fueled with biodiesel. Click here to view more images of the LRX Concept.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

Instead, Bond goes on to drive a few SUVs from the Ford group of marques, though the makers did try to “balance” them out with a fuel efficient small car.

Let’s have a look at the cars of the Quantum Solace.

Aston Martin DBS

The Aston Martin DBS replaces the Vanquish V12 as the new flagship of the marque. The GT is powered by a 6.0 liter V12 engine producing 510 horsepower at 6,500rpm and 569Nm of torque at 5,750rpm. It also had carbon ceramic disc brakes, which is a first for a road-going Aston Martin.

Everyone probably looked forward to seeing this in action the most. It’s expected really, since the DBS is pure Aston Martin design language, which is possibly the sexiest of all with all the right curves and lines in all the right places. Plus the DBS was also first revealed to the public in Casino Royale (though they were actually reskinned DB9s), and only made a public physical appearance a year later at Pebble Beach 2007.

The vehicles in the Bond movie is probably a deal with Ford, so I suspect the Aston Martin DBS got KO-ed so early because Aston Martin is no longer part of the Ford group. The movie opens with a car chase scene with plenty of flying bullets, and Bond in the DBS is being chased by delicious-looking Alfa 159s. The 159s end up getting wrecked of course, that’s not even a spoiler as it’s so predictable.

Alfa Romeo 159

While we have to be content here with Sime Darby Auto Connexxion still flogging the 156 (though the 159 is promised soon), its successor has been on sale since 2005, long enough for the producers of Quantum of Solace to buy a few and destroy them in a heated car chase scene in Italy.

The 159 is available in both front wheel drive and Q4 all-wheel drive configuration, with the top of the line being the JTS Q4 powered by a 3.2 liter V6 engine putting out 260 PS at 6,200rpm and 322Nm of torque, though most Europeans may opt for the 2.4 JTDM turbodiesel with 210 PS and 400Nm of torque instead.

Jaguar Daimler Double-Six

Villain Dominic Greene (apparently inspired by Nicolas Sarkozy and Tony Blair) sometimes rides in a big Daimler Double-Six whenever he’s bored of his silent hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Greene Planet for a “Greener” planet, he says?

Range Rover Sport

This is one of the two SUVs featured in the movie, but this one’s powered by a regular combustion engine, and a powerful one at that. The Range Rover Sport isn’t just a Range Rover with a powerful engine, its actually a completely different and smaller vehicle based on the Discovery.

It’s powered by a 390 PS 4.2 liter Jaguar V8 supercharged engine, though a normally aspirated version was also previous available but since dropped due to lack of popularity. It’s also rather infamous – it seems that it was made a target of Greenpeace protests in 2005 because it was such an inefficient vehicle.

The Range Rover is piloted by a certain “Miss Fields” and later by Bond.

Ford Ka

The Ford Ka is the Bond Girl’s car. Olga Kurylenko plays Camille, the leading lady picks Bond up in her golden Ford Ka – who wants to bet a special edition will be sold by Ford in a similiar golden paint in a movie tie-up? A similiar scene is repeated later in a classic Volkswagen Beetle… I’m pretty sure Volkswagen didn’t pay for that!

The Ka is even smaller than the Ford Fiesta and in its original iteration it was truly low-cost in the sense that Ford even resorted to using a 1.3 liter Ford Kent pushrod engine under its hood. The new Ka has Italian origins – its based on Fiat Panda/500 underpinings and uses modern petrol and diesel engines.

Volvo S40

Bond drives a Volvo S40 rental car in Austria. The facelifted Volvo S40 was recently launched in Malaysia in locally assembled form and offers European premium motoring at a price of under RM200,000. Though it’s one size smaller, those considering Japanese 2.4 liter D-segment cars but don’t really need the space should consider it.

Ford Edge powered by Hydrogen

The Ford Edge is a crossover SUV but no real hydrogen-powered version of it currently exists, though Ford has announced a “HySeries Drive” version that combines electric drive powered by either an on-board hydrogen fuel cell or lithium ion batteries that have plug-in charging capabilities.

In the movie, the Edge is part of a fleet of green vehicles owned by the villain’s company Greene Planet. Bond ends up driving one of these, and this just so happens to take place in a desert where the fuel cell’s pure water exhaust would be most appreciated.

So what’s your favourite vehicle in the movie, and what did you think of the movie? My favourite is of course the Aston Martin DBS and I didn’t think any of the other cars had very much of a stage presence except for the Range Rover Sport.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

PHOTO GALLERY: Aston Martin DBS
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

It must be great to be in the royal family of a country of which oil consists of 90% of its exports. The Saudi Arabian royal family purchased 80 units of the new Kahn Cosworth Sport 300 SUV based on the Range Rover Sport just because they wanted the cars before anyone else. I suppose the global recession is non-existant in countries of which economies are driven by petroleum exports.

The Kahn Cosworth Sport 300 is a joint venture between Cosworth and Kahn Design, headed by CEO Afzal Kahn. The Sport 300 carries a £20,000 premium over the Range Rover Sport’s regular price tag of £55,000, and for the 20k pounds you get an additional 32 horsepower from the car’s turbodiesel V8 engine, resulting in a total of 300 horses. The styling is by Kahn design, which includes flared wheel arches and 22 inch alloy wheels.

Look after the jump for a couple of more shots of the new Saudi fleet.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

Sime Darby Auto Connexion Sdn Bhd is now accepting bookings for a new range of Land Rover vehicles in Malaysia. The following is a short summary of specs and prices for the new Land Rovers.

The Land Rover Freelander 2 Td2 (shown above, also known as the LR2 in North America) is going for RM272,000 and comes with a 2.2 liter Ford-Peugeot turbodiesel engine mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission that produces 160 horsepower.

For those that need something larger, the new Land Rover Discovery 3 TdV6 (called the LR3 in North America) comes with a 2.7 liter turbodiesel V6 engine producing 190 horsepower and is available for RM382,000.

Those that have deeper pockets can opt for the Range Rover Sport in 2 variants – a 190hp 2.7 liter turbodiesel V6 version priced from RM522,000 and a 4.4 liter normally aspirated V8 version from RM565,000. The flagship Range Rover is available with a 272hp 3.6 liter V8 diesel for RM624,000.

All of the models above come with a 3 year or 100,000km warranty, whichever comes first. They will be available for test drive at a public test drive event at the Royal Selangor Club at Bukit Kiara on the 25th and 26th of October 2008, 10am until 5pm.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

The Land Rover Freelander is based on Ford’s EUCD platform. The EUCD platform also underpins vehicles such as the 7-seater Ford S-MAX, so it should be no issue to stretch the Freelander’s 2,659mm wheelbase to somewhere over 2,800mm to accomodate the additional row of seats and maintain luggage space.

The new 7-seater Land Rover L486 will be more road-oriented rather than an off-roading vehicle, providing customers with the choice of a people carrier combined with rugged and desirable Land Rover styling. Powertrain and all-wheel drive systems will likely be carried over from the L359 Freelander, which features a front wheel drive biased system, sending torque to the rear wheels only when there is slipping.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

Sime Darby’s Land Rover (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd displayed its Land Rover Defender 6X4 Puma concept at the Defence Services Asia 2008 exhibition this month, and Land Rover Malaysia says the concept attracted a high level of interest from the Malaysian Armed Forces and numerous foreign visitors.

The Land Rover Defender 6X4 Puma Concept was developed in Malaysia by Land Rover Malaysia and Sasbilt Technologies Malaysia. It features a long wheelbase of 3302mm and the 6-wheeler can run on either 4 wheels (6X4) or all 6 wheels (6X6).

The long wheelbase enables the use of a custom body which can accommodate an electric generator in the rear compartment and a spacious cabin for radio and satellite equipment and at least four crew members. The cabin doors are wider to enable easy access and loading of radio equipment. A full-size antenna can be mounted on the roof for the 6X4 Puma Concept to be used as a VSAT satellite vehicle in the battlefield.

It is powered by Land Rover’s Ford Duratorq “Puma” 2.4 liter common rail turbodiesel engine. Depending on tuning, it can produce between 74hp to 135hp and between 185Nm to 285Nm of torque.

One more rear shot after the jump.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

Most of the management team will be retained, and Ford will continue to supply Jaguar and Land Rover with powertrains and technology for the time being, depending on existing supply agreements. Ford Motor Credit Co will also provide financing for Jaguar and Land Rover dealers and customers for the period of up to 12 months. The deal includes the Rover, Daimler and Lanchester brand names.

Tata Motors says it was confident this investment would have a positive effect on its balance sheet in the long run. Shareholders do not seem to share these sentiments as Tata Motors shares dropped as much as 7.3% yesterday, finally settling on a 3.6% drop at the end of the day as analysts says the deal will be a strain on the balance sheet. As for Ford, the money will help it focus on turning around its North American operations, which are currently operating at a loss.

The other bids for Jaguar and Land Rover are former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser’s One Equity Partners, Ripplewood, and Texas Pacific Group, which was advised by Bob Dover, CEO of Jaguar and Land Rover between 2002 and 2003.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

Land Rover has unveiled a second version of its LRX Concept which was first shown at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. This version is called the Land Rover Black and Silver LRX Hybrid Concept and is powered by a 2.0 liter turbodiesel hybrid powertrain.

Land Rover claims the diesel hybrid can achieve a fuel economy of 4.7 liters per 100km on the European combined cycle, and produces CO2 emissions of 120g/km. No performance figures were quoted, so Land Rover must be really focusing on the fuel economy aspect of this concept.

The LRX Hybrid Concept’s Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD) allows the LRX Hybrid Concept to run on electric drive alone at lower speeds of up to 32km/h, with the turbodiesel engine able to start automatically and smoothly on demand while on the move. This engine can run on biodiesel fuel.

It is a compact SUV, or cross-coupe as Land Rover calls it. The LRX Hybrid Concept is 149mm shorter and 205mm lower than the Land Rover LR2 (Freelander 2), but will be positioned above it as a more premium compact vehicle.

Related Posts:
Land Rover LRX Concept from Detroit 2008

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

One company that is very happy about all of this is Fiat, who has a close relationship with Tata. Tata uses Fiat turbodiesel engines in their cars, and the two companies have a partnership worth Rs 4000 crore (3.3 billion ringgit) in India.

Fiat says this will most likely allow the Italian company to get access to Jaguar’s technologies. It is particularly interested in Jaguar’s rear wheel drive platform as well as Land Rover’s four-wheel drive technology. Yup, you guessed right – the first model from the Fiat group to benefit from this is most likely the new flagship Alfa Romeo 169, which Fiat plans to develop as a rear wheel drive car.

Related Posts:
Ford may forgo retained stake in Jaguar and Land Rover

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

While the original plan was for Ford to keep a minority stake in the company as it has done with Aston Martin (it retains a US$77 million out of US$925 million stake), Indian paper the Economic Times has reported that Ford has decided not to retain a minority stake in Land Rover and Jaguar as “it is convinced about the future development of these two brands in the hands of Tata.”

Ford’s earlier intention of holding a minority stake in the two companies, as with Aston Martin, was to ensure supply contracts and jobs are protected. Analysts have pegged the deal at worth between US$1.5 to US2.0 billion.

Source

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

The Land Rover LRX Concept will be making its public debut at the 2008 North American International Auto Show early next year. The 3-door compact SUV is smaller than the smallest LR2 (Freelander 2) in Land Rover’s product lineup, and is described as a “cross-coupe” by Land Rover executives, a term also used by companies like Audi with their Cross Quattro Concept and BMW with their BMW X6.

The LRX Concept carries over existing Land Rover design languages well – the clamshell hood and sharp lines for instance. Ride and handling for the concept has been tuned to lean towards on-road performance, but it is still equipped with off-road technologies like Hill Descent Control, and Terrain Response.

More photos including interior shots after the jump.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

The latest whispers being passed around dinner tables in the automotive industry are that Jaguar and Land Rover are currently on the table, and potential buyers are Fiat. It seems that talks started in February this year but ended last month, with no resolution. Sources say the talks were dropped because Fiat was concerned on how the Jaguar would affect Fiat’s credit rating. Fiat would have benefited from Jaguar’s rear wheel drive platforms if the sale had gone through.

With rumours of BMW being interested in Volvo, and most of Aston Martin shares recently being sold, it seems Ford Motor Co is looking to offload all of it’s Premier Automotive Group (PAG) brands.

PAG lost US$327 million before taxes last year, it’s third loss in a row for three years. Jaguar has lost the most money apparently, a total of between US$500 million to US$1 billion since 2001. Land Rover has gained traction recently though, pardon the pun

Source

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

The king of the luxury 4WDs will go on a diet for it’s next generation, but it’s a diet plan that will take 15 years. A new lighter Range Rover is being proposed by Land Rover engineers for the 2012 model year, using stablemate Jaguar’s rivet-bonded aluminium monocoque chassis technology.

This construction technique will save the new L405 Range Rover nearly 500kg, improving it’s fuel consumption, power, and so many other variables. It will also have a shorter roof so that it’ll look less top heavy. A hybrid drivetrain is also in the works – we don’t really expect petrol prices to have improved much by 2012.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

It’s powered by a 4.6 liter Range Rover engine tuned up by McCabe MotorSports, hooked up to a stock Rover transmission and LT230 transfer case. Both front and rear shocks are Fox shocks, with 12″ 2.5 shocks at the front and 14″ at the rear. Wheels are 17 inch wrapped with 40 inch Goodyear MTR tyres.

Enjoy the two videos after the jump.

Video: Pikes Peak Rovers Range Rover Rock Buggy – 1

Video: Pikes Peak Rovers Range Rover Rock Buggy – 2

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.

Which is why Land Rover has come up with something they call the petrol fuel guard system, which comes with the Range Rover TDV8. The petrol fuel guard system activates when a petrol nozzle is inserted into the fuel tank – it differenciates a petrol nozzle and a diesel nozzle by how deep the nozzle goes into the fuel tank – a petrol nozzle is thinner but longer, while a diesel’s is shotter but fatter. If a petrol nozzle is detected, a mechanical shutter is automatically activated, preventing petrol from getting into the fuel tank.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 13:22:29 +0800.