Land Rover badge lopped: report

A REPORT published by US publication Motortrend this week says the iconic Land Rover nameplate will be lopped from the JLR portfolio as the parent company moves to group its future SUV line-up under three ‘family’ brands: Defender, Discovery and Range Rover.

The publication says JLR will retain the Land Rover name as a ‘trustmark’ for its off-road technologies and capabilities, and reports that the Jaguar brand will be reinvented as a high-end EV marque with its own unique platforms.

“Shifting the Land Rover brand name to a supporting role isn’t as controversial a move as it might seem,” said JLR chief creative officer Gerry McGovern.

“The reality is Range Rover is already a brand, so is Defender. We love the Land Rover name, but it doesn’t have as much equity as Range Rover, and Defender is rising fast. People tell us they drive a Range Rover, not a Land Rover.”

Motortrend says the moves are part of a $US19 billion ($A28.3b) investment JLR will make over the next five years. The British giant will focus its attention on new vehicles, new technologies and new manufacturing operations, under the watchful eye of new CEO, Adrian Mardell.

JLR has stated previously that it will produce electric vehicles exclusively by 2036, and that it plans to reduce the number of vehicle platforms utilised from seven to three.

These are set to include the MLA Flex platform, which underpins the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport and offers longitudinal driveline placement for internal combustion, plug-in hybrid and battery electric powerplants; the EMA platform, which underpins mid-sized SUVs including the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport and features transverse-mounted powerplants; and the forthcoming JEA electrified platform for “low seat height, low ride height” Jaguar models.

According to Mr McGovern, JLR’s aim is to become the creator of the world’s most desirable luxury brands, a goal its “house of brands’ strategy” will help to cement.

He says each brand will have its own “unique interpretation of modern luxury”, the Range Rover offering refined modernism, the Defender brutalist modernism, Discovery eclectic modernism, and Jaguar exuberant modernism.

For Jaguar in particular, that interpretation will involve what Mr McGovern says is a radical visual reimagination of the brand, suggesting the incoming EV-only platform will allow greater design creativity than was possible in the past.

“BEV platforms open-up the ability to move the windshield forward … When these cars appear for the first time, they will have that jaw-dropping moment,” he suggested.

With Motortrend