The all-new Land Rover Freelander replacement will become a member of an extended Land Rover Discovery family, according to company sources. The new car, based on a stretched Evoque platform, is expected late next year.
The Freelander badge, first seen in 1997, will be dropped. The name was discontinued in the US market in 2006 when the second-generation model was launched. The Freelander and Discovery are known as LR2 and LR4 in the US.
Land Rover’s decision to create a family of Discovery models is based on a number of considerations. Perhaps most importantly, Land Rover suffers from a profusion of confusing brands. Although the company is called Land Rover, Range Rover is also its own well established brand. And the company sells three families of vehicles under the Freelander, Discovery and Defender nameplates, which are arguably distinct sub-brands in their own right.
At Land Rover’s recent 65th anniversary celebrations, global brand director John Edwards made a point of telling journalists that the company was based on “three iconic brands: Range Rover, Discovery and Defender”.
The three nameplates will lead to three distinct vehicle families, as Autocar revealed last year (News, 7 November). The Range Rover family has already been marked out with the eponymous luxury version as a flagship, stretching down to the highly successful Evoque. The new Range Rover Sport is close to being launched and sources expect a fourth Range Rover model in the medium term. It has already been dubbed ‘Evoque XL’ and is designed to fill the gap between the compact Evoque and the Range Rover Sport.
It is now clear that the Discovery replacement will be used as a flagship to create a new family of rugged models designed for everyday use and aimed at adventurous families and outdoor enthusiasts. Insiders say today’s Discovery — which combines generous seven-seat space with the ability to carry huge loads — has become an icon in its own right, and the customer satisfaction and brand image it delivers is such that it will be the inspiration for Land Rover’s mainstream range.
The new Discovery range will be topped by two flagship models based on the Range Rover’s PLA all-aluminium architecture. They will be joined by two models to replace the Freelander — a seven-seater and a five-seater.
Propping up the range — if it is given the green light — will be a compact urban model, not much more than four metres long and based on a shortened Evoque platform.
The new Discovery models will be powered by JLR’s new AJ-200 range of four-cylinder engines, including a supercharged petrol unit.
Plans for a third brand family, which will replace the ancient Defender line-up, have also recently been shaken up.
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Really?
Land Rover believes three nameplates are too confusing? Really? How stupid do they think their customers are? Will replacing "Freelander" with "Discovery City" or something equally pointless actually make things clearer?
It's simple. Freelander=urban suv, Discovery=family suv, and Defender=rugged SUV. Add a Plus or Max for the seven seaters.
Oh, and "Range Rover" should be like "Mini" and not be preceded by its parent company's name.
Jeez...
Freelander nameplate still worth...
a lot in the UK at least. So I'm surprised to hear it's now being discontinued. In the UK we had a logical progression of models: Freelander/Discovery/RR Sport/Range Rover. I'd need further convincing from JLR that any new model structure would be an improvement on this.
The Real World
It is obvious that a great many people do not realise that the majority of the cars on the road are financed via credit whether it be Contract hire, Personal Contract lease or bank loan. That applies to virtualy all types of car from Dacia to Rolls Royce.Company car sales which include the cars on contract to Health Authorities and Civil Service etc. That is approx 50 % then the private buyers the balance and that is financed via Banks, and Personal Contract hire etc very few outright purchases with one own savings plus the trade in vehicle .the second hand market, mainly private purchases with and some Company vehicles, probably the latter in prestige sector.Without these finance routes the sales would be depleted by 90% initially awaiting for people to save up. So why the comments about posh cars are on credit makes me realise those persons have little idea whatsoever.You see the German Brands now as they are cheaper to contract hire than say a Ford Mondeo due to residualsand effect on depreciation.Let' s face it who would buy a one series BMW if it had a Ford badge on ? not many.
Ford Mondeo sale sand the likes of The Vauxall Vectra sold many each year ,In Europe I recall the Mondeo selling about 500000 each year now replaced via prestige brands as better on residuals.
Yep, I do think the Evoque is a great car along with the Xf they are only a handfull of cars that are exciting and make you want one .The others are boring scrap,my Brother Inlaw got a new 13 plate A3 Audi last shape though and it is boring and the quality of the inside is awefull to say the least ,very austere in my opinion, is it aspirational? no,but probably cheaper than A new Focus due to residuals so the smart money would be to buy a few month old Focus for £12k and not £20k plus on the A3