Was sitting in the reception of a customer's in Bourneville (no prizes for guessing who it is) and reading the FT. Article was saying LR had made a profit or will do for the first time since Ford took over thanks in main to the RR and RRS, sales up 35% I think it said.

Converesly, Porsche's Pig sales have dropped by a quarter!

Just found the article online so here it is:

Land Rover's US sales shift gear into profits
By John Griffiths in Detroit
Published: January 10 2006 02:00 | Last updated: January 10 2006 02:00

North American sales of Land Rover, part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, jumped by 35 per cent last year despite a sharp decline in the luxury four-wheel-drive sector, which saw sales of Porsche's $85,000-$100,000-plus Cayenne sports-utility drop by more than a quarter.

The uplift for Land Rover - driven mainly by the latest $90,000 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models - is helping take the company to a profit in 2005/6, its first sizeable profit since Ford bought the company in 2000 for £1.8bn ($3.2bn).

The introduction in autumn this year of a replacement for Land Rover's smallest model, the Freelander, is also expected to take Land Rover's annual sales above the 200,000 threshold for the first time in 2007/8. The company sold 183,000 vehicles worldwide last year, up 14 per cent over 2004.

The success of the brand in the US, where 46,000 vehicles were sold last year, is prompting Land Rover also to develop diesel-engine vehicles for a market where traditionally fuel has been cheap and where moreeconomical diesel engines have been largely ignored by consumers.

On Sunday, DaimlerChrysler announced an initiative to kick-start diesel sales in the US through the launch of new-technology Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler cars that the company claims will be the world's most economical and environmentally clean.

"That means that BMW [whose US-built X3 and X5 SUV models are big sellers in North America] will not be far behind," Matthew Taylor, Land Rover's managing director, said.

However, Land Rover diesel models could not be made ready for North America until after 2007/8, when draconian new federal exhaust emissions standards are due to be introduced.

Mr Taylor declined to comment on Land Rover's profitability, declaring only that "we will be in the black" for the full year.

Ford does not publish separate figures for any of its Premier Automotive Group subsidiaries - including also Jaguar, Aston-Martin and Volvo - but consolidates them into its group accounts. But it is understood to have made a pre-tax loss of £228m in 2004-5, when it was incurring particularly heavy new-model launch costs.

The US sales upsurge coincides with strong growth in other overseas markets including Russia, where Land Rover is poised to start outselling Mercedes-Benz as a brand, having increased annual sales tenfold. L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

RRUK wrote:

Was sitting in the reception of a customer's in Bourneville (no prizes for guessing who it is)...

Didn't bring any freebies away with you to distribute amongst your best and longest standing friends did you?  

2009 Outstanding Contribution Award - Joint Runner Up
2009 'Tech-Head Of The Year' Award - Runner Up

Like it here? Then Donate to RRSPORT!!

Unfortunately not, if I had been able to stay longer I would have been allowed into the factory shop where you can walk out with about £50 worth for about £5.

I was parked in a 2 hr bay and had to leave before I got the chance...damnit!

Next time.

 L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

RRUK,
Thanks for the article.
For all those who bemoan the purchase of LR by Ford, it is evidence of how that purchase has essentially 'saved' one of the world's greatest brands, (LR). There is no way that LR could have survived, let alone thrived, as a stand-alone brand, and if BMW had retained ownership, I believe that there is no way that LR products would have been allowed to overshadow the 'core' vehicles like the X5; X3, etc.
Bish '06 RRS S/C Bonatti Grey/Ebony/Cherry with RSE; PTI; Electronic Rear Diff and Sirius Sat Radio.

That's an interesting point, Bish. I think you're right but then I think even the most ardent BMW salesman would never try to suggest that an X5 was more capable off road than a LR product. Maybe we'd have seen LR get subsumed into the BMW marque with the next generation BMW 4x4s having a Terrain Response wheel etc.

In the IT world, Microsoft do this all the time - why compete, when you can just buy someone with capable technology and integrate it into your own products to make them better? 

2009 Outstanding Contribution Award - Joint Runner Up
2009 'Tech-Head Of The Year' Award - Runner Up

Like it here? Then Donate to RRSPORT!!

It is true the RR was to be the X7 but Ford called the deal off, it also dumped the BMW plans for the next Disco which was quite X5ish. Ford made them start again - thank God!

And instead, used the blueprints from the Transit Connect....  L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

RRUK wrote:

And instead, used the blueprints from the Transit Connect....

OOOO another rib gone

Ford were obviously used to the look of cars from the hood too