Press Report : Land Rover will get hybrids, smaller vehicles

Diana T. Kurylko, Automotive News Europe, 1st September, 2010

New owner Tata Motors promises that Land Rover will add smaller vehicles and hybrid powerplants, but it hasn’t said much about the timing.

Land Rover will continue to share components with Jaguar, which is also under Tata ownership. Land Rover already uses Jaguar’s 5.0-liter V-8 engine in all but one of its vehicles.

Here are Land Rover’s product plans:

Land Rover LR2: The SUV gets a mild restyling and upgrades to the interior this year. The SUV still uses Ford’s EUCD platform.

Land Rover LR4: A redesign is expected in 2015 or 2016.

Range Rover: A redesign is expected in 2013. The SUV will shift from a BMW platform to one developed by Tata. It will use an aluminum body structure similar to the new Jaguar XJ sedan.

Range Rover Sport: A redesign or re-engineering is expected in 2013 or 2014. The new generation is likely to use more aluminum to reduce weight.

Range Rover Evoque: The all-new two-door SUV goes on sale in Europe next summer and in the U.S. late 2011. It will be Land Rover’s smallest vehicle and its first front-wheel-drive vehicle. The Evoque will be marketed as an upscale vehicle, hence the Range Rover nameplate. The price in the U.S. is expected to start at about $50,000.

A hybrid version of the Evoque is expected, although the timing is unknown.

[Source: Automotive News Europe]

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Clive claims that his interest in the BMC>MG story dates back to his childhood in the 1960s when the family’s garage premises were leased to a tenant with an Austin agency. However, back in the 1920s and 1930s, his grandmother was one of the country’s first female Garage Proprietors so cars probably run in his genes! Admits to affairs with Alfa Romeos, but has more recently owned an 06/06 MG TF 135 and then a 15/64 MG3 Style… Clive, who was AROnline’s News Editor for nearly four years, stood down from that role in order to devote more time to various Motor Racing projects but still contributes articles on as regular basis as his other commitments permit.