Land Rover Sets New Sales Record. Sell!
Just as Ford prepares to sell-off its Land Rover division, the British brand has announced record sales. Year-to-date, 205,717 customers bought a Rover off-roader, helping Landie rack-up its highest sales total since Maurice Wilks hand built the first protoype on his Anglesey farm. CNNMoney riffs on the press release, attributing the brand's growth to burgeoning sales in Russia, China, France and Spain. If you read between the lines, amidst all the self-congratulation, a dark cloud is headed Land Rover's way. New European Union CO2 regulations will put Land Rover between a rock and a hard place, with precious little high mileage traction to get itself out. Hence Land Rover's managing director's quote, which is suspiciously heavy on the "this is no fluke" spin. "This sales achievement has been driven by exciting new products with improved environmental performance," Phil Popham announced. "Confidence is high – we're firmly in the black with innovative new products that will continue Land Rover's sustainable development." We reckon Ford's blundered into picked the perfect time to abandon ship.
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So Range Rovers are selling very well in the new emerging markets. But how well is RR doing in the already established markets like the USA?
What they really need to do is build the Defender with a small diesel in a really low cost of labor country. They will sell millions.
Land Rover is becoming the refuge of the authentic SUV crowd. The original brand recovers those still brave enough to go for the "real" deal, while the boutique SUV as jewelry market suffers more and more A couple of years from now, in order to pull off driving an SUV you'll need to own a ranch or be in a legitimate trade. Driving a Land Rover says you're in serious need of an SUV, and that you bought one for all the right reasons. I agree, Ford is getting rid of the brand at exactly the wrong moment.
They may have sold more cars than ever, but I'm wondering if LR made any money doing it.