The £25,000 Land Rover..what the experts say

EXCITEMENT has been building recently about the prospect of a £25,000 Land Rover.

Speculation has recently emerged that just such a vehicle could form part of Land Rover’s plans going forward.

The possibility has been mooted in a number of places, most notably by the car magazine Autocar, and the Telegraph pondered on the prospect too.

A very affordable Land Rover would draw thousands more buyers to the Land Rover brand.

If speculation proves to be correct the new model would be inspired by the new Land Rover Defender, which was unveiled in September 2019.

That would be welcomed by fans of the old Defender who would love to see a more basic and affordable addition to the range.

So, what do the experts think? Is just such a Land Rover on the cards, or is it just pie in the sky? And would it make sense?

We spoke to Dr Charles Tennant and Mike Gould.

Both are former long-serving Land Rover employees.

Charles was Land Rover’s chief engineer for a time and went on to enjoy spells at WMG at the University of Warwick and Tata Technologies, where he was on the board.

Mike held a number of different roles at Land Rover in different departments, including public relations. These days he is an author who writes books on a variety of marques, including Land Rover.

Here’s what they had to say.

Is Land Rover having a baby?

Charles Tennant (CT): “There are rumours aplenty that Jaguar Land Rover is already working on a so-called entry level baby Land Rover - codenamed L860 - and with a target price of £25,000 it will be the most affordable vehicle produced by JLR to date.

“And now that they have successfully launched the all new Defender after a hiatus of four years since the old model went out of production, this makes a lot of sense on two fronts.

“Firstly there is a strong business case for such a vehicle with a strong Land Rover pedigree, as demand for smaller SUVs is booming, particularly in Europe with sales of over 500,000 and growing. And especially as Chinese and American customers are also starting to show an interest in smaller SUVs.

“Competitors already have vehicles selling well in this market segment such as the Jeep Compass, Mini Countryman, VW Tiguan, BMW X1 and Volvo XC40.

“Secondly JLR has a dire need to lower their average CO2 emissions to 130g/km by 2021 in Europe, with the prospect of another swinging cut planned for 2025 by the EU. And that’s even before we think about other massive implications for the company, now that the petrol/diesel/ hybrid engine UK ban has been dramatically pulled forward by five years to 2035.”

Could it be called a Defender?

CT: “Whilst I don’t expect it to be actually called a Defender - as that nameplate is already going after more affluent customers at a much higher price point of £50,000 plus - it will more than likely be branded as simply the Land Rover 80.

“And it will sit just below the Discovery Sport which starts at £31,000. This is good news as it shows JLR product planners are at last thinking much harder to ensure new vehicles are differentiated at staggered price points, to prevent so called sales cannibalisation, which the company has certainly suffered from recently.

“The four-door only vehicle style theme is certain to be based on the new boxy Defender silhouette, but the interior will be somewhat stripped out to save money and be more utility focussed.

“Of course we already know that petrochemical giant Ineos are working on their own stripped out rugged utilitarian pretender Defender called the Grenadier, to be built in Wales from next year at a £30,000 plus price tag and initial volumes of 25,000 per year.

“One has to wonder whether Land Rover had a serious dose of the collywobbles when confronted with the prospect of Ineos parking their tanks on their home turf and preparing to eat their lunch.”

How important is that £25,0000 price tag and how is the company managing to achieve it?

CT: “This much lower and very ambitious £25,000 price point baby Land Rover means that JLR engineers have had to dig deep to achieve massive savings in the design and manufacturing costs.

“It will no doubt be produced at their Nitra plant in Slovakia, which along with the Discovery 5 and Defender production enjoys much lower labour costs over the UK.

“But it is the vehicle platform design where other significant cost savings will be achieved. And this is where the engineers looked east for the solution, in the form of a Tata Motors plat- form known as OMEGARC, which underpins their new Tata Harrier SUV priced at £18,000 in India.

“This platform is in fact a heavily modified evolution of Ford’s now ancient EUCD steel platform from which the Range Rover Evoque, Discovery Sport, and Jaguar E-Pace are produced.

“So interestingly we are now seeing vehicle DNA sharing not only across Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, but Tata Motors as well.

“This approach makes both technical and economic sense for JLR, as well proven by VW who are the platform masters with their VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda brands all successfully sharing similar underpinnings. Furthermore it is claimed that Tata Motors were able to achieve much needed weight savings on OMEGARC by working with their sister company Tata Steel.

“Also, the suspension geometry has been cleverly optimised by engineers so that Tata can use a basic rear beam axle - whereas Land Rover will go for multi-link independent rear suspension and their own front subframe and independent front suspension.

“Four-cylinder turbocharged combustion Ingenium engines driving the front wheels through an 8-speed automatic gearbox (who wants a manual these days?) - with all wheel drive as an option - complete the package for the new baby Land Rover 80. A much needed three-cylinder hybrid powertrain is also on the cards but no fully electric as yet.”

What is this vehicle going to be like to drive and how will it compare to the new Defender?

CT: “Well the Defender was designed from the ground up as a category 4B vehicle meaning it needs durability above a normal production car but below full military vehicle specification - and for this JLR created a new hardcore architecture known as D7X (extreme).

“This was itself developed from the innovative aluminium D7 platform used for Jaguar’s XE, XF, and F-Pace; and Land Rover’s Discovery and Range Rover.

“The Defender has the stiffest body construction from JLR and was literally tested to death, with the most arduous development programme in the company’s history - 200 prototypes covered 1.2 million miles and test rigs simulated 10 years or 150,000 miles of use.

“Clever use of additional highstrength steel on D7X means that the Defender can withstand a seven-tonne upward load through the suspension, whereas the optional winch can pull 4,536kg and the snatch point load is an amazing six tonnes.

“Also the Defender electrical system has been tested to the IP67 standard, meaning it can be impressively submerged in a metre of water for more than an hour without sustaining damage. With high approach (38 degrees) and departure (40 degrees) angles and ground clearance (up to 291mm) the Defender can also tackle the toughest surfaces climbing and descending 45 degree angle slopes with ease and towing 3,500kg.

“But the Defender is also packed with electronic driver aids and also has very refined on-road manners, thanks to a more connected feel for the driver with agility on road.

“In comparison the baby Land Rover is really a so called crossover vehicle more akin to its siblings - the Evoque and Discovery Sport.”

When can we expect to see it?

CT: “With the speed at which JLR traverses its new product introduction process I am expecting the baby Land Rover to hit the roads at the end of 2021, at a critical time for JLR, who desperately need sales volume growth and to get their Nitra plant running at an efficient capacity.”

What are your thoughts on a £25,000 Land Rover?

Mike Gould (MG): “It used to be said with some justification that the cost of building most cars is, give or take a few quid, the same. It’s what you can get for them that makes the difference.

“The brand equity of Range Rover means that putting the 10 magic letters on the bonnet makes customers happy to add tens of thousands of pounds to the cheque over and above what might seem reasonable by comparison with other vehicles.

“Now Defender seems to have developed a similar Midas touch thanks to punters having to endure a period of cold turkey and to a stunning new product.

“But with customers apparently queuing around the block clutching upwards of 50 grand for the new model, it seems strange to contemplate offering them something for half the price.

“It may seem boring and deny JLR directors a tingling feeling in the nether regions, but surely it makes more sense to concentrate on getting as many full-fat Defenders out of the Slovakian factory gates as possible.”

What is your experience of ‘cut-price’ Land Rovers?

MG: “Back in my time as Defender brand manager, we looked at a basic model but it took the deletion of a lot of specification to make even a slight difference. And nobody liked it while the up-market County models paved the way to the acceptance of the Defender as a leisure vehicle and were more profitable.”

Does a £25k Land Rover fit into the company’s emissions strategy?

MG: “Given the Government’s recent assertion that no one will be able to sell internal combustion powered vehicles past 2035 a mere 15 years away - it would also seem wise to turn any engineering effort towards meeting that deadline rather than expending effort on a budget model.”

Should Land Rover have already delivered just such a vehicle?

MG: “If the goal was to provide an entry level Land Rover model, then surely the company missed a trick with the Jaguar E-Pace?

“It’s a nice car, but you’ll never drive anything less like a Jaguar.

“The Land Rover Freelander had a loyal customer base with many unable to make the leap to the Discovery Sport but would have lapped up something similar to the E-Pace badged as a Freelander 3.”

Are there any lessons Land Rover should heed from previous affordability adventures?MG: “If this is part of a JLR strategy to boost volume then the company should remember, if the Jaguar XE wasn’t enough of a memoryjogger, that this means playing with the big boys. And, as you’ve read here before, JLR is not a big boy or even close.

“Car companies are riding rough seas at the moment with even giants like Ford suffering. Jaguar Land Rover has just announced further job losses at Halewood and if it is to weather the economic storm, it needs the shelter of a substantial partner and soon.This should be its major priority. If it doesn’t find one, new models at whatever price point will be a high class problem.”