Tata has upgraded its Land Rover Range Rover model with the latest 2010 model for India. The Launch even was simple and held at the JLR showroom in Mumbai. During the even the Man himself Mr. Ratan Tata gave the keys to the first customer Shahid Kapoor. The car must have cost Shahid more than a crore as the ex-showroom price is Rs. 98.5Lakh.

Range Rover is offered with two engine options, A supercharged V8 petrol engine with 510PS and A V8 diesel engine with 271PS. The 2010 Range Rover is claimed world over as the best Land Rover yet with tons of new features and cameras all around the car with zoom in and zoom out, the car could even be used to film a tennis match. But more on the car later, for now some pictures from the launch.

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It was around for a while and we have mention about it in an earlier post. Now it has been confirmed that the LXR crossover is all set for production. The Production LXR will be based on its concept version revealed during the 2008 Detroit Auto show. The production version hasn’t been revealed yet and will be done duly sometime in 2010 and will go on sale in 2011. Land Rover said that the new car will be built at the company’s plant in Halewood, Merseyside and will be sold in more than 100 countries around the world.

“The production of a small Range Rover model is excellent news for our employees, dealers and customers,” said Phil Popham the managing director of Land Rover.

He also added “Feedback from our customer research also fully supports our belief that a production version of the LRX Concept would further raise the desirability of our brand and absolutely meet their expectations”.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design director said “The new vehicle will be a natural extension to the Range Rover line-up, complementing the existing models and helping to define a new segment. It will be true to the concept and have many recognizable Range Rover design cues including the signature clamshell bonnet, the floating roof and the solid ‘wheel-at-each-corner’ stance.”

Click here for more pictures of the LXR concept

The smallest of the Land Rovers was launched in India today (22nd September) at JLR’s Mumbai showroom. The car comes in three variants namely S, HS, HSE. The model on sale is the 2.2L 4-cylinder turbo charged diesel with a power output of158bhp and 40.8 kgm of torque.

The Freelander 2 is the cheapest in the LR staple in India with a kickass pricing of 33.8Lakh for the S version. The HS and the HSE costs 39 and 45Lakh respectively, all prices ex-showroom Mumbai.

JLR has already sold 20 units of the two luxury brands from its single Dealership in Mumbai since the launch of the brands in June. It may not sound much but the cars are no hero Honda bikes. JLR is planning on setting up showrooms in New Delhi, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune.

My musings on the car will follow up soon, for now check out the pictures from the Launch and the official Press Release for more details

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Press Release:
Released on : 22nd September, 2009
FREELANDER 2 launched in India
Land Rover today launched the highly acclaimed Freelander 2 in India. The Freelander 2 joins the acclaimed Discovery 4, the quintessential sports tourer, the Range Rover Sport and the ultimate luxury 4×4, the Range Rover, all of which were launched earlier in India in June this year.

Jaguar Land Rover is a business built around two great British brands that are designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK. Jaguar Cars Limited, founded in 1922, is one of the world’s premier manufacturers of luxury saloons and sports cars. Since 1948 Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4×4s that define ‘breadth of capability’ in their segments. The Jaguar XF, XJ and XK models are manufactured at the company’s Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham, while the Land Rover Freelander 2 is manufactured at the Halewood plant in Liverpool. Land Rover’s Defender, Discovery 4, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover models are all built at the Solihull plant. Jaguar Land Rover has two product development centres in Whitley, Coventry and Gaydon, Warwickshire. The business is a major wealth generator for the UK with 78 percent of Land Rovers exported to over 160 countries and 70 percent of Jaguars exported to 63 countries.

Tata has announced that it is going to launch the Freelander compact crossover SUV in India on 22nd of this month. This would be the entry level Land Rover which is likely to set you back 35Lakhs but that’s including the 110% CBU tax. The Freelander is sold in the UK for 21,295 pounds which comes to an equivalent of 17Lakhs.

The current Land Rover range starts at 63 Lakhs for the Discover 3 model. The other offerings from LR includes the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport both costs up to 85Lakhs (ex-showroom Mumbai).

The Freelander will be powered by 2179cc engine with a power output of 115KW. We will keep you informed with the Launch. Stay tuned, looks like LR has gotten a bit closer to our grabs.

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Land Rover will be celebrating its 40th birthday on June next year with the launch of its “Ace up the sleeve” car LXR. The LXR concept, which was showcased during the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, received critical acclamation. It did look like one of those concepts, which look so futuristic and excess but in the same time checks in with its brand’s legacy.

The production version will preserve most of the concept’s interior and exterior design. In this age of green peace dictation Land Rover is looked up on as nothing less than an agent of mass murder. The LXR might help mend some damage done to the badge. It is comparatively small and hence more fuel efficient. It is designed to be greener from ground up.

The LXR could feature a transverse engine, which will power the front wheel and the rear wheel, the real wheel will also get power from the electric drive rear axle, which will in turn be powered by batteries. The electric drive will be able to push the car up to 20 mph.

The car will be up for sale by 2011 and Since Land Rover is now owned by Tata and Tata already have all the Land Rover models available in India, the LXR will make its way here as well.