Currently reading: Land Rover to develop 'Leisure' portfolio

Design director says a split of the company's models into three distinct categories is helping Land Rover to focus

Land Rover is turning its attentions to the ‘Leisure’ side of its product portfolio from next year, design director Gerry McGovern has revealed.

A replacement for the Freelander is tipped to come first, as that model joins an extended Discovery family. Recent spy shots have shown the replacement in testing.

The firm has split its model range into three categories: Luxury, Leisure and Dual Purpose. Its three most recent new models were all Range Rovers in the Luxury category.

“We will be focusing more from next year on the Leisure pillar,” said McGovern. “You will notice differences between Luxury and Leisure, as they’re clearly targeted at different customers and will build the brand significantly.”

Test mules for the next-generation Freelander, the first model set to be launched into the Leisure pillar, are a regular sight in the Midlands and at the Nürburgring.

The model is set to be rebranded as a Land Rover Discovery, as Land Rover looks to create a range of models in the Leisure side of the models wearing Discovery badges in the same way every model in the Luxury side of its business wears a Range Rover badge.

“You’re going to see a whole proliferation of new products over the next few years,” said McGovern. “The current three [Defender, Freelander and Discovery] are going to be replaced, but there’s going to be more.”

McGovern, noting the growth potential for Land Rover, said global SUV sales are set to increase by 40 per cent to 22 million units per year by 2020. “The opportunity for us is immense and we want to create products that will be relevant in a rapidly changing world.”

He revealed that the Evoque would get another series of updates in mid-2015 for the 2016 model year, including the removal of the black cladding at the bottom of the car.

McGovern also hinted that the gap between the Range Rover Evoque five-door and the Range Rover Sport could be filled with a new model, while the interiors of all Land Rover models will also continue to see switchgear reduced.

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Mark Tisshaw

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Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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winniethewoo 22 November 2013

It sounds too complicated to

It sounds too complicated to me. Maybe they should have a utility range in keeping with their roots, and the range rover range. Otherwise its going to confuse people of small brain like me. It seems to me that a brand should stand for something, not everything. Should Jaguar do a non premium range, branded Cougar or Lynx to take on the volume manufacturers? Maybe it will all make sense once the range is in place.
jonboy4969 22 November 2013

JLR know what they are doing

JLR know what they are doing and if you cant see it then you really need to look hard, they are getting back to basics, like in told days, you had the Fiesta, a good small car, then teh Focus, Sierra and Granada (I use these as an example, not as a definitive comparison) The defender range will be the workhorse range of vehicles, followed by the discovery range, small and large vehicles, in teh same vein as the focus 3 door, 5 door, estate and so on, the Granny was always the luxury end like the Range Rover group of cars. So, JLR are doing nothing unusual, consolidating models together, to give distinct ranges of cars, rather than have One Freelander 3 and one Discovery 5, there will be a series of cars to build upon the good reputation the Discovery has gained over the last five years. And as for reliability, I have just popped over to the USA J.D. Power and had a good poke about, and the full Land/Range Rover models rate equal or better than supposed quality brands like BMW and Mercedes, now forgive me, but its there in black and white, so please stop harping on about teh poor reliability because these cars are no worse than supposed better cars. People should applaud JLR, for the amount of money they are pumping into the local areas, for the jobs they continue to give, for building more units each year for years, for producing great world class cars, but no, all you lot can do is bicker and slag off and berate, such a sad group of people.
bomb 22 November 2013

jonboy4969 wrote: all you lot

jonboy4969 wrote:
all you lot can do is bicker and slag off and berate, such a sad group of people.
Where is the slagging off in this thread then jon? It seems to be posts concerned about the direction JLR is taking given their past success and the strong foothold they have in the marketplace. You should read a little closer before you do your own slagging off. Sad indeed.
Harry P 22 November 2013

What’s in a name?

I have owned two Freelander 2’s and when I had the first one in 2008 I was careful to add that it was a Freelander 2, due to the poor reputation of the original. The Freelander 2 has changed the reputation and standing of the vehicle due to its good record of reliability and customer satisfaction. However, If Land Rover can produce a vehicle that looks as good as the image shown and a vehicle as well developed as the new RR Sport, then I do not think too many potential purchasers will really be bothered if it is called Freelander or Discovery.