This article was taken from The Birmingham Post

Despite “horrendous” economic conditions, “Armageddon can wait”, Jaguar Land Rover chief executive David Smith has declared.

In an upbeat speech to business leaders from across the West Midlands, he said he had “not lost one iota of belief in the brilliant future” of the company or the region.
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Gulf and Levant showrooms have seen the arrive of the new luxury range of Land Rover models recently, with a full range of features and technologies including Land Rover’s carbon emissions program.

Both the Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport are in showrooms, showcasing features such as electronic parking brakes, cooled front seats and digital TVs, terrain response. The Range Rover Sport also features the speed-sensitive steering, Adaptive Cruise Control and the Dynamic Response System along with many of the features found on the regular Range Rover models.
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Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC today announced that it has received two Residual Value Awards from Automotive Lease Guide (ALG). ALG’s 10th annual Residual Value Awards, for the 2009 model year, honored the vehicles in each industry segment that ALG predicts will retain the highest percentage of their original price after a conventional three-year lease term.

Land Rover’s Range Rover Sport won the award in the Luxury Utility Vehicle category, while the Land Rover LR2 was the winner in the Near Luxury Utility Vehicle category. Land Rover also placed fifth overall for the Luxury Brand Residual Value Ranking. Range Rover Sport has consistently been an ALG award winner for the past four years, whereas this is the first ALG win for LR2.

ALG determines the award winners after carefully studying the competition in each segment, historical vehicle performance and industry trends. Vehicle quality, production levels relative to demand, and pricing strategies are among the key factors that affect ALG’s residual value forecasts. The complete list of this year’s awards can be found on http://www.alg.com.

“We understand the importance of residual values at such a crucial time for automotive manufacturers and are delighted by this recognition,” said Chris Marchand, executive vice president of Marketing and Sales, Land Rover North America.

“We believe Residual Value remains the best metric for evaluating the overall strength of an automotive brand, and we congratulate Land Rover for the proven success of their Range Rover Sport and LR2 models,” said John Blair, Chief Executive Officer of Automotive Lease Guide.

About Land Rover

Since 1948 Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4×4s that represent true ‘breadth of capability’ across the model range. Defender, LR2 (Freelander 2), LR3 (Discovery 3), Range Rover Sport and Range Rover each define the world’s 4×4 sectors, with 78% of this model range exported to over 140 countries. Land Rover employs 8,500 people and supports a further 40,000 jobs supported in the supply chain.
Land Rover takes its responsibility to the environment seriously. Emissions have been cut with all new models and, together with Jaguar, it is investing 700m pounds Sterling on technology specifically aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Also, since September 2006, carbon dioxide generated by Land Rover manufacturing activities and UK customer vehicle use has been balanced through an industry leading offset program run by Climate Care.
About ALG (www.alg.com)
Based in Santa Barbara, California, Automotive Lease Guide (ALG) is a leading provider of data and consulting services to the automotive industry. ALG publishes the “Automotive Lease Guide” - the standard for Residual Value projections in North America, and has been forecasting automotive residual values for over 37 years in both the U.S. and Canadian markets. ALG is a company of DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. (TRAK:
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PRESS RELEASE SOURCE: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC

This article was taken from Truck Trend

Land Rover’s lineup of sporty and luxurious SUVs are getting some slight revisions for 2009, with changes being made to all models. The 2009 Land Rover LR2 will get new wheels, new carpeting for the interior, clear side repeater lenses, and revised instrument panel finishes.

The 2009 Land Rover LR3 will get new wheel designs, with 19-in. wheels now coming as standard. Body-color wheel arches and bumper covers also appear. New finishes to the door and tailgate handles and clear lenses on the side repeater lamps are new to the LR3. The HST package, consisting of a sporty body kit, painted front and rear bumpers, side-sill enhancements, and dual HST exhaust tips, is also new for 2009 and gives the LR3 a more aggressive appearance.

Perhaps most noteworthy of Land Rover’s changes will be to the line of Range Rover models, which includes the addition of a new “Autobiography” package for the Range Rover Sport Supercharged model. This package consists of leather trim for the console side surfaces, door casings, and the entire instrument panel. Wood trim accents are also dispersed throughout the interior. Semi-aniline leather seats provide occupants with luxurious seating, while four-zone automatic climate control and a rear-seat entertainment system keep passengers in good spirits.

Other changes made to the Range Rover line include upgraded leather trim for the steering wheel and instrument panel top surface. New and improved door seals help reduce cabin noise, an improvement for off-road warriors. New paint colors are available, along with new wheel designs. Improvements have been made to the interior craftsmanship, and changes are rounded out by clear lenses for the taillamps and side repeater lamps, a “Noble” finish for metal vent bezels, inside door pulls, and the upper and lower console trim. A body-color lower tailgate also comes standard.

Since its purchase by Indian company Tata, and widespread redundancies, Land Rover has hired a PR firm to focus on its UK presence. Although they have long bveen a UK based company, their presence on the business pages has been limited. Public affairs direct Simon Warr commented that they should be showing themselves amongst companies such as Marks & Spencers.

The PR company, Portland, will apparently be focusing on the change of ownership, their company’s focus on green technology and their strategy to get through the economic slump.

German Manufacturer Arden have created a bolt-on supercharger for the Range Rover, designed to be used without removing the engine from the vehicle. The supercharger adds an extra 80 horsepower, utilising a twin screw compressor to boost the horsepower to 550 and the torque to 140 Nm.

As yet there are no prices available, but keep an eye on http://www.arden.de for updates.

Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed that they are in the midst of talks with the British Government for £1bn of taxpayers money to secure the future of the company. The Prime Minister is apparently considering the proposal.

Over the last few months, Jaguar Land Rover have been offering a unique redundancy deal to their workers, and over 300 of their production line workers have taken them up on the offer and clocked off for the final time in 2008.
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