In spite of being a genuinely good car, Land Rover Freelander has always been kinda obscured by its Range Rover brothers. The car has just achieved a significant production milestone as the 250,000th unit rolls off the production line at Halewood manufacturing plant in Merseyside.
Land Rover Freelander 2 was born back in 2007 and all these years it remained more or less unchanged in terms of design, but it’s been constantly upgraded in terms of technicalities. The 2011 Freelander 2 is available with either 2WD or 4WD and a refined 2.2 litre diesel engine offering two power outputs – the 190hp SD4 and the 150hp TD4. With class-leading on and off-road performance, featuring Terrain ResponseTM, a premium cabin, and improved fuel economy.
Despite all these, and the fact that it is indeed a Land Rover, prices start at just £21,995. No other SUV in this price range offers the same capabilities, and the same class.
The 250,000th vehicle is a 2.2 litre TD4 Diesel GS in Fuji White and is destined for a customer who lives in Scotland.
Halewood operations director Richard Else, commented: “This milestone achievement and the increasing sales for Freelander 2 highlights just how important this vehicle is, not just to Halewood but also for the regional and UK economy ? around 70% of Freelanders produced at Halewood are exported overseas. I’d like to thank our flexible and highly skilled workforce and congratulate the Halewood team on this superb achievement.”
Land Rover is also celebrating a growing demand for Halewood’s award winning model as retail sales for the popular model are up 22%, year to date (Apr 2010 – Feb 2011) compared with the same 11 month period in 2009/2010.