Autocar UK SCOOP! 16 new Land Rovers revealed

Land Rover has announced plans of introducing new models that could more than double its annual sales by 2020. The future model line-up will 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 plans to extend the Range Rover line-up to six models, including an ‘Evoque XL’, which slots between the Evoque and the new Range Rover Sport and a convertible Evoque. A three-door Range Rover just four metres 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.

 

JLR boss Ralf Speth has spoken about 40 new JLR product launches in the next five years and has pledged £2bn a year to underpin this, with the £10bn investment funding at least one new platform. 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. China is now JLR’s second biggest market, just behind the UK, and Chinese tastes are increasingly turning away from conventional luxury saloon cars towards SUVs.

Buyers of premium vehicles in China and Russia are also pushing for the opportunity to buy more limited-edition vehicles and customised styling packs, an opportunity JLR’s design teams are eager to capitalise on.