Land Rover’s Freelander 2 has been crowned SUV of the Year by BBC Top Gear at the magazine’s annual awards celebration hosted by Jeremy Clarkson. First unveiled at the British International Motor Show in London earlier this year, the Freelander 2 is on sale this month, and already, 1,500 of the new models have been sold.
The pic isn’t anything official from Solihull, but it is reportedly based on reality. The fine fellows at Jalopnik found this little Rangie, which looks to be about the same size as the VW Tiguan. We’re digging the exoskeleton look with bold Rover family cues like the large vents ahead of the doors.
Smacking their foreheads and uttering, ‘We could have had a V8!’ Land Rover is apparently considering an LR2 Sport of sorts, according to Edmund’s Inside Line. Why not, when you already have a V8 engine like the Yamaha 4.4-liter V8 from the Volvo XC90/S80 in the corporate warehouse? The plan is feasible as the engine swap would be pretty straightforward. The Freelander 2 LR2 shares many subplatforms with the Volvos.
I’ve finally gotten around to integrating the photo gallery into the design scheme of the rest of the site. It finally looks like part of the family. Enjoy!
Hopefully the potential dispersal of the Ford Premier Group won’t affect this wonderful Jaguar/Land Rover collaboration that is being rumored. By borrowing aluminum (aluminium?) expertise from Jaguar, future Land Rovers could be as much as 1,000 pounds lighter than current models. Utilizing Jaguar’s rivet-bonded aluminum monocoque body design, Land Rover could continue to build large luxury SUVs that are lighter and return even better fuel economy.
This November, Land Rover will begin the sale of an updated Range Rover Sport that will come equipped with either a 2.7-liter, turbo-diesel V6, or a new TDV8 that produces 40-percent more power and torque than its six-cylinder brethren. Only you can’t have either, because they’ll only be available in Europe.
The investment group at which Jacques Nasser is senior partner for mergers and acquisitions is in talks with the former Ford CEO’s ex-employer to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover, according to four people said to be familiar with the situation by Bloomberg.
Last night at a WTA party in London, Maria Sharapova, tennis star and Land Rover spokesperson, gave attendees the first look at the completely redesigned Land Rover Freelander 2 (LR2 in the US). Sharapova drives a Range Rover when she’s at home in the States.
The new Freelander is a significant departure from the model it’s replacing. While the original Freelander sold well in Europe, it didn’t perform nearly as well in the US. That should change, however, with the introduction of the Freelander 2/LR2.
