Land Rover Revs-Up Production

LANHAM, Md.--Land Rover will invest about $190 million in its Solihull, England manufacturing facility. The money is to be spent prior to the end of next year--a period that represents the first 18 months of Ford Motor Co.’s ownership of the Land Rover nameplate.

Bob Dover, Land Rover’s chairman and CEO, announced the additional funding during the launch of the V6-equipped Freelander, a small Land Rover sport-utility vehicle that will arrive on U.S. shores in late 2001.

The spending package will buy a new press shop and assembly line for future products that will be produced at Land Rover’s Solihull plant. Some of the investment will also go toward improving the efficiency of the plant’s existing facilities. All of the improvements will serve to increase product quality and worker productivity at the 11,000-worker site in anticipation of an array of future products that includes the U.S.-specification Freelander, according to the company.

The board of directors allocated the money “in preparation for the dramatic increase in Land Rover’s unit production volumes that is scheduled to take place over the next several years.” Land Rover produced more than 178,000 vehicles worldwide in 1999 and the company’s annual production capacity is expected to increase to nearly 300,000 vehicles by 2005. Accounting for a portion of this volume increase is production of the U.S.-specification Freelander.

Land Rover North America Inc. expects Freelander to become the U.S. market’s best selling Land Rover. The Freelander will be priced under $30,000, making it the most affordable Land Rover available in the U.S. The vehicle will help boost Land Rover’s U.S. sales volume to about 50,000 units in 2002, an increase of more than 50 percent over the expected sales total for calendar year 2000. (The year 2002 is the first full year that Freelander will be sold in the U.S.)

“We’re very excited about this investment. Not only will it improve the overall production quality of Land Rover vehicles, it will also help to ensure the success of Freelander in the U.S. market,” said Howard Mosher, president and CEO of Land Rover North America. Since its introduction in Europe in 1997, the Freelander has become Europe’s best selling four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Land Rover North America, established in 1986, imports and distributes Range Rover and Discovery Series II vehicles manufactured for sale in North America by Land Rover Group Ltd. in Solihull, England. Land Rover’s worldwide operations are wholly owned by Ford.