I was very happily surprised when this popped up on Twitter this morning:
Just a few weeks ago, I had read something about how the decision as to which factory they were going to close would be announced soon and then this! It says so much for the success of the company as of late. I just felt like it was going to be the end of the Lode Lane plant – where most Land Rovers have been built since 1948. I’ve visited the factory there twice for tours and great off-roading. If you’ve never been and can get there, you should check it out:
http://www.landrover.com/gb/en/lr/experience-land-rover/centre-locations/solihull/
A gallery from one of my 2007 visits:
http://www.roverhaul.com/galleries/hotl2k7heritage
We actually saw them doing test stampings on the Range Rover Sport body panels about a month before it had been announced – didn’t actually realize just what we were seeing at the time. And make sure to take a drive on the Jungle Track.
Just to close – congratulations again to everyone at those plants, you’re doing a great job, and now you get to keep it going!
Not my video below, but thought it works for this post:
Here’s the official PR:
JAGUAR LAND ROVER AND TRADE UNIONS REACH LANDMARK DEAL
• Ambitious plans for new models and volume growth
• Multi-billion pound investment in the Jaguar Land Rover business
• Three manufacturing plants retained in the UK
• Thousands of new jobs in next decade – including more than 1500 in Liverpool in 2011
Following an intensive study to determine the future Jaguar Land Rover strategy for both brands and a period of negotiation with trade unions representing its workforce, Jaguar Land Rover is pleased to confirm that a landmark pay and conditions settlement has been reached.
The agreement, which trade unions representing the Jaguar Land Rover workforce will unanimously recommend to their members, sees Jaguar Land Rover revising its plans to consolidate manufacturing operations. Subject to employees endorsing this deal over the next few weeks, Jaguar Land Rover will now retain three plants in the UK – at Castle Bromwich, Solihull and Halewood – building Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. This will lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs in Britain over the next decade as Jaguar Land Rover invests billions of pounds in the UK and significantly increases both the number of models in its range as well as overall global volumes.
"This is a triumph for all concerned," said Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ralf Speth. "We have ambitious plans for growth and the success of our products around the world and this agreement will allow us to accelerate and realize those plans.
"The agreement is a great deal for our workers and the company and we can now really get on with working together to achieve an even more exciting future for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands," added Dr Speth. "We have already started by
beginning to hire 1500 new employees to support the launch of the new Range Rover Evoque at our award-winning Halewood factory in Liverpool.
"Our parent company Tata supported us through the recession and our employees also made sacrifices but now we are seeing a great turnaround in the business and everyone involved – our employees; our customers and our Tata shareholders – will benefit from this agreement. This is truly the beginning of a new era for Jaguar Land Rover."
The terms of the agreement include a pay rise of 5% for employees in November this year with a further rise of at least 3% next November. New hires in the manufacturing plants will come in on lower rates of pay and receive lower shift premiums, increasing flexibility. Existing employees are unaffected. There will also be an extension of performance related pay for salaried employees.I do realize that it’s probably just a missing option, but the Dynamic Program is conspicuously missing from the images shown at the “Choose” build-your-own section of the Evoque website.
The Dynamic Program is a Terrain Response mode originally seen in the 2010 Range Rover Sport. It’s described as:
Dynamic Program, which can provide more performance-orientated responses to driver input by remapping steering, throttle and gearbox settings.
Here’s the shot from the first pictures they released of the Prestige model, you can see it there.
Now from the Choose page, and I’m using a shot of a Dynamic Model, but they are all the same for these purposes, this picture just “popped” more.
Here’s what it looks like in the 2010 Range Rover Sport:
And finally, just a reference back to the missing icon on the 2011 Range Rover TDV8:
Just thought I’d post up the links I’ve collected on the various official Land Rover social media sites; focusing on the US & UK. The marketing is done independently, so they each have a collection of sites. They are a great place to start when trying to find the latest info, videos & pictures.
Common to both:
http://www.helloevoque.com/blog/
Land Rover UK:
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/landroveruk/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/landrover.uk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/landrover.uk#!/rangerover.uk
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/landrover_uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RangeRover_UK
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/landroveruk
Go Beyond Blog: http://gobeyond-blog.landrover.com/blog/
Land Rover USA, www.interactivelandrover.com:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/landroverusa
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rangeroverusa
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rangeroverusa#!/interactivelandrover
Twitter: http://twitter.com/interactivelr
Twitter: http://twitter.com/interactiverr
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/rangeroverusa
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/interactivelr
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/helloevoque
Someone else to watch on Twitter:
Stuart Schorr – http://twitter.com/stuartschorr
Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs
Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC
If you know other, please send them over.
Land Rover usually doesn’t give too many official shots of lower level trim/options – most of the pictures you see on the website or in brochures are of the Autobiography’s.
While searching around for something else, I found this shot of the controls for the reclining rear seat option in the Range Rover, first time I’ve seen them. This is the Style 2 option, available with the HSE LUX package & in the Supercharged models for $1250. For the Autobiography, the upgraded Style 3 comes as standard, it cost $2500 prior to MY2011.
For comparison, here are the Style 3 controls, which add in adjustable lumbar support along with seat heating & cooling. Rear seat heating is standard on all Range Rovers, normally those controls are on the center rear HVAC console, but the are relocated to the door with the Style 3 package.
One additional feature that’s added in with either Style – “Passenger Seat Memory”. I think I remember having this on a 1995 Range Rover, but I don’t believe any of the current generation have had it. Here’s a shot from an Autobiography – you can see the memory controls there for the passenger seat:
