Edmunds Green Car Advisor is reporting that Tata, the Indian company that owns Land Rover and Jaguar, is planning major changes for Land Rover. The focus will be on constructing lighter, more fuel efficient vehicles. That means the chassis developed while BMW owned Land Rover has to go, lighter weight materials need to be used, and hybrid gas/electric and diesel/electric power trains have to be developed.
One small bit of good news: Land Rover is planning to install the 4.4L V8 diesel that Ford developed into the 2011 Range Rover. Ford put the 4.4L V8 on the shelf in USA due to uncertain diesel prices and high cost of emissions controls. If Ford starts to build the engine for Land Rover, that increases the chance that Ford will put the 4.4L diesel in some F150 pickups and Expedition SUV models.
The article doesn't mention the future of the Defender line. I suspect that there will be enough orders from military customers to justify continuing to build the Defender series.
Here's the article
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencarad...-vehicles-and-hybrids-to-land-rover-line.html
One small bit of good news: Land Rover is planning to install the 4.4L V8 diesel that Ford developed into the 2011 Range Rover. Ford put the 4.4L V8 on the shelf in USA due to uncertain diesel prices and high cost of emissions controls. If Ford starts to build the engine for Land Rover, that increases the chance that Ford will put the 4.4L diesel in some F150 pickups and Expedition SUV models.
The article doesn't mention the future of the Defender line. I suspect that there will be enough orders from military customers to justify continuing to build the Defender series.
Here's the article
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencarad...-vehicles-and-hybrids-to-land-rover-line.html