Land Rover

Land Rover (marque)
Product typeLuxury vehicles
OwnerJaguar Land Rover[1]
Produced byJaguar Land Rover
CountryUnited Kingdom
Introduced1948 (1948)[2]
Related brandsJaguar
MarketsWorldwide
Previous owners
Tagline"Above & Beyond"
Websitelandrover.com
Land Rover Limited
IndustryAutomotive
PredecessorBritish Leyland
Founded1978 (1978)
FounderBritish Leyland
Defunct2012
FateCar manufacturing merged with Jaguar Cars in 2013 as Jaguar Land Rover
HeadquartersSolihull, West Midlands (1978–2012)
Parent

Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors.[3] JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil, China, India, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. The Land Rover name was created in 1948 by the Rover Company for a utilitarian 4WD off-road vehicle. Currently, the Land Rover range consists solely of upmarket and luxury sport utility vehicles.

Land Rover was granted a Royal Warrant by King George VI in 1951.[4][5] In 2001, it received a Queen's Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade.[6] Over time, Land Rover grew into its own brand, and for a while also a company, encompassing a consistently growing range of four-wheel drive, off-road capable models. Starting with the much more upmarket 1970 Range Rover, and subsequent introductions of the mid-range Discovery and entry-level Freelander line, in 1989 and 1997, as well as the 1990 Land Rover Defender refresh, the marque today includes two models of Discovery, four distinct models of Range Rover, and after a three-year hiatus, a second generation of Defenders have gone into production for the 2020 model year – in short or long wheelbase, as before.

For half a century, from the original 1948 model, to 1997, when the Freelander was introduced, Land Rovers and Range Rovers exclusively relied on their trademark boxed-section vehicle frames. Land Rover used boxed frames in a direct product bloodline until the termination of the original Defender in 2016. Their last body-on-frame model was replaced by a monocoque with the third generation Discovery in 2017. Since then, all Land Rovers and Range Rovers have a unified body and frame structure.

Since 2010, Land Rover has introduced two-wheel drive variants, both of the Freelander, and of the Evoque, after having built exclusively 4WD cars for 62 years.[7] The 2WD Freelander has been succeeded by a 2WD Discovery Sport, available in some markets.[8]

  1. ^ "Trade mark number UK00000663199". Intellectual Property Office. Crown (UK Government). Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  2. ^ Robson, Graham (1981). The Rover company (2 ed.). Patrick Stephens. ISBN 0-85059-543-6.
  3. ^ "Subsidiaries, JVs and Associates: Jaguar Land Rover". Tata Motors. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  4. ^ "Queen's Birthday Party Speech by H.E. Vicki Treadell". GOV.UK. 15 June 2015. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Star role for Jaguar Land Rover at the coronation festival, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the coronation of HM the Queen" (Press release). Jaguar Land Rover News. 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  6. ^ "No. 56182". The London Gazette (Supplement). April 2001. p. 2.
  7. ^ Not counting Freight Rovers.
  8. ^ "Land Rover Discovery Sport". Carwow. 4 April 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016.

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