Land Rover Cars

Land Rover is an all-terrain vehicle and Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) manufacturer, based in Gaydon, England. It has two production plants, one at Solihull, West Midlands which builds the Defender, Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models and the second at Halewood, Merseyside which makes the Freelander 2 and also the Jaguar X type. Originally the term Land Rover referred to one specific vehicle, a pioneering civilian all-terrain utility vehicle launched on April 30, 1948, at the Amsterdam Motor Show, but was later used as a brand for several distinct models, all capable of four-wheel drive. Since the 1970s, in remote areas of Africa, South America, Asia and the Australian Outback, the somewhat similar Nissan Patrol (which was the first 4x4 other than the Range Rover to adopt coil springs at the front and rear) and Mitsubishi Pajero (also known as Shogun in the UK and Montero in other markets) have overtaken the Land Rover as the utility 4x4 of choice, partly because of the better support network and reputation for reliability. In Australia at least, pricing is now actually comparable or in favour of the Land Rover, due to the shorter supply chain. Another reason seems to be the 'leadfoot' factor - the workhorse Toyota models tend to have larger engines than the comparable Land Rover models,In Britain, the Land Rover fell from favour with the farming community with the arrival of less expensive Japanese alternatives, with Daihatsu Fourtracks, Isuzu Troopers and Mitsubishi Pajeros becoming a common sight on farms around the country, until rust eventually ended their working lives. However, with subtle improvements to the Defender in the early 1990s, and with the introduction of better, more reliable engines in the form of the TDi and the five-cylinder TD5, many farms once again have a Land Rover Defender in their drive.