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Land Rover LR2

1131 messages,  Last post on Mar 05, 2012 at 12:09 PM

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What is this discussion about? Land Rover LR2, Future Vehicle, SUV

    

Messages Page 35 of 114

#335 of 1131 Re: CUTTING CORNERS TO COMPETE UNDER 40K [bg54] by british_rover

Apr 23, 2007 (7:02 am)

Replying to: bg54 (Apr 23, 2007 6:39 am)
You truly have no idea what you are talking about.
 
Rover's quality was worse when it was owned by BMW then it is now.
 
Rover's quality was much, much worse back before BMW owned them because they had no capital to improve the products. BMW provided a fair amount of capital to help rover do some things but mainly just bought rover so that they would not have to develop 4wd and SUV technology on their own. It was much cheaper to buy rover and use their experience to help design the X5 then to develop the X5 by themselves.
 
Once BMW had all the tech they thought they could use they dumped rover. There was a lot of animosity between Rover and BMW top managment and engineering. Things were done specificly to keep Land Rover vehicle launches/events from over shadowing BMW launches/events.
 
 Specificly when the Linely Special Edition Range Rover was launched the X5 was being launched in London about the same time. BMW had the Linely Launch moved to a smaller less prestigious location so that it would not take attention away from the X5 launch.
 
Ford has put more money into Rover then BMW ever did. BMW spend about ONE BILLION USD for the initial development of the Range Rover. Ford spend over ONE BILLION USD for the LR3 and factory upgrades at Sollihul. Several hundred million more was spend deveolping the Range Sport and then even more was spend finishing the design of the Range Rover since BMW left it unfinished and then even more money was spent upgrading it for 2006-2007 MYs.
 
I haven't seen the data for the money spent on the LR2 but I am sure it is also in the hundreds of millions if not a billion dollars once you include the money for refitting Halewood for LR2 production.
 
Oh and Ford also spent money updating the Defender for 2007 although unfortunately it is still does not meet US emissions or safety. Eventually the Defender will get a full update and should meet US regulations then but who knows when that will happen.
 
 The Defender was never touched by BMW as Land Rover brought it up to US spec for the 1993 introduction and then BMW let it die when the regulations changed for the 1998 MY.
 
I have a good question for you. Who designed the Original Freelander? If you want to lay blame on anyone lay blame on them.

#336 of 1131 Re: CUTTING CORNERS TO COMPETE UNDER 40K [british_rover] by bg54

Apr 23, 2007 (7:31 am)

Replying to: british_rover (Apr 23, 2007 7:02 am)
I remember when BMW bought Rover, they put the RIDE in Rover it has now along with the ability to HUG the road. I believe BMW only bought Rover to "GRAB" the technology you mentioned, but it seems that ROVER is NOW all OVER the spectrum when it come to "QUALITY" being built back into it.The Design of the "Freelander" was "FORD".. They were the owners when it was brought to the U.S. Please Correct if this is NOT TRUE..
 
Bev.

#337 of 1131 Re: CUTTING CORNERS TO COMPETE UNDER 40K [bg54] by lrguy44

Apr 23, 2007 (8:58 am)

Replying to: bg54 (Apr 23, 2007 7:31 am)
The Design of the "Freelander" was "FORD"..
 
The Freelander was originally introduced in Europe in 1997 - long before Ford - the US spec was on the drawing board (hence Rover Car engine) under BMW ownership.

#338 of 1131 Re: CUTTING CORNERS TO COMPETE UNDER 40K [bg54] by british_rover

Apr 23, 2007 (9:40 am)

Replying to: bg54 (Apr 23, 2007 7:31 am)
AAAHHHHH Incorrect as LRguy said.
 
The Freelander started life as a joint project between HONDA and Rover back before BMW even owned Land Rover. This was back in the early 90s and the Freelander was supposed to be a twin to the CRV. Honda owned a 20% stake in Rover through the mid-90s.
 
As the project started to move along though Honda decided to use a 4 cylinder engine for the CRV and Rover wanted to use a small V6. The project became less and less about two twin vehicles and more about two vehicles sharing a limited amount of technology. When BMW bought Rover along with Honda's stake in the company in what was essentialy a hostile takeover bid. The Freelander and CRV were seperated before birth and shared almost no technology.
 
BMW bought Rover in 1994 so they finished the design of the Freelander although I don't know how much they actually had to do with it. The 4 cylinder diesel in the Freelander for Europe was actually a BMW engine. Production of the Freelander started in 1996 and ran into 2006. No Freelanders were brought into the US after the midpoint of 2005 as everyone realized what a problem car it was.

#339 of 1131 Re: CUTTING CORNERS TO COMPETE UNDER 40K [british_rover] by haagd

Apr 23, 2007 (3:59 pm)

Replying to: british_rover (Apr 23, 2007 9:40 am)
Why respond to this guy anymore? Let the past go. The LR2 is hot! Time to get into at least the present if not start thinking about the future.

#340 of 1131 Re: Baltic Blue LR2 [haagd] by press

Apr 23, 2007 (6:40 pm)

Replying to: haagd (Apr 22, 2007 8:31 pm)
Good luck with your LR2. I drove the LR2 at night with the Xenons and in the corners you could really tell the benefit of adaptive Xenons. When you learn the price of the raised roof rack, please let me know.

#341 of 1131 Re: Northern VA... [khristina] by press

Apr 23, 2007 (6:46 pm)

Replying to: isabelalaval (Apr 22, 2007 7:13 pm)
Thanks for the info on the dealers. I noticed that LandRover moved from the Rockville site. Did someone take it over or did they move to a new site.

#342 of 1131 Question "FORD ESCAPE" or FREELANDER COMPETITION by bg54

Apr 23, 2007 (7:12 pm)

Knowing how much Ford dumped into ROVER.. Do you think it might of nip away at the Rovers to enhance sales with Ford Products? Ford Escape was one of the most popular Suv's .. Below is a insert from a 2002 Add. To much competition in this market. It is like robbing from the rich to give to the poor. A conflict of interest is what I see.. A "White Night" with only the "Rover" interest at heart is what is needed.. COMPETITION
 
2002 Ford Escape
More Photos
 
MSRP:
$18,670 - 25,880
 
Invoice:
$17,404 - 23,965
 
Class:
Compact Sport-utility Vehicle
 
CG Award: (What's This?)
 2002 Ford Escape
Expert Rating Summary
Category XLT Sport Rating (See All
Ratings) Compact Sport-utility Vehicle Average Rating
    
Acceleration 5 3.5
    
Fuel Economy 5 4.8
    
Ride Quality 4 3.7
    
Steering/Handling/Braking 5 3.7
    
Quietness 4 3.3
    
Controls/Materials 5 4.8
    
Room/Comfort/Driver Seating (front) 6 5.0
    
Room/Comfort (rear) 5 3.7
    
Cargo Room 7 6.7
    
Value within Class 10 5.4
    
Total Score: 56 44.6

#343 of 1131 Scheduled Maintenance by nyccarguy

Apr 23, 2007 (8:50 pm)

Did I see right on the LR2 commercial during "24?" Do the LR2s now come with scheduled maintenance at no extra charge?

#344 of 1131 Re: CUTTING CORNERS TO COMPETE UNDER 40K [haagd] by tidester

Apr 23, 2007 (9:11 pm)

Replying to: haagd (Apr 23, 2007 3:59 pm)
Why respond to this guy anymore?
 
He's a she and I'm finding british_rover's replies illuminating.
 
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

Messages Page 35 of 114

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