| | Land Rover Portfolio And then there is Land Rover, the marque which introduced the automotive world to luxury four-by-fours and also provided just as competent a rival to the famous Jeep. Land Rover remains uniquely placed and totally distinctive in its brand identity plus also the make-up of its products. The styling of its products is unmistakable yet carries a lineage that can be traced right back to the original some five decades ago. Land Rover caused a massive stir some three decades ago when it launched its plush Range Rover model, a car which was so luxuriously outfitted and turned out that many were wondering whether it was ever to be taken off road. In fact the Range Rover was the very first SUV with great road manners and this trend continues today with even more capability and dynamism. In fact, many are of the opinion that BMW bought Land Rover just to get to grips with the exclusive and proprietary all wheel drive technology it possessed and when it learned most if not all about it, it sold off the brand to Ford! What is undisputed however is that it was found in many a household in Europe which had a Rolls-Royce, the second car was inevitably a Range Rover! If this suggests many things it is of course indicative of what the product and the brand have done for themselves. And let's not forget that the sheer utility of the Land Rover products has also seen them as very hardy performers in defence forces across the world while also being impeccable performers in various municipal utilities. Overall it is a well rounded portfolio but Tata Motors must learn how to keep the character of these brands intact and not mix them up with Indica, Punto, Palio, Nano. This more than anything else would be key to their overall proliferation, not just in India but all over the world. In India, Land Rover would offer, to begin with, the Discovery and the Defender as well as the awesome and accomplished Range Rover Sport, a car which makes even the impressive Toyota Land Cruiser shy away from a head-on confrontation. The Discovery range starts from Rs 63 lakhs and expect to pay upwards of Rs 89 lakhs for the Range Rover. There will be just one single dealership to begin with for these two brands in Mumbai but within the next 12 months there will be a total of seven dedicated dealers nationwide for Jaguar Land Rover. What these two will bring is a massive dose of fresh automotive appeal, classic and traditional on one hand with cutting edge tech to rival the best Germans. It is an irresistible automotive delicacy for those who can sign large cheques with disdain even in these tough times but for that you get ultra exclusive machines which even the likes of Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche would be hard pressed to emulate. |
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