Orlandys Land Rovers

The new special edition TDV8 Range Rover Autobiography from Land Rover. It is being readied for the British Motor Show taking place at ExCeL from 23 July to 3rd August.

It features more leather upholstery than you could shake a stick at, a hybrid TV and Sat Nav system plus 20inch diamond cut alloy wheels. LandRover UK’s Managing Director calls it the ‘most complete luxury 4×4′ and will set you back £72,995, 17k more than the entry level Range Rover.

Probably attempting to appeal to the Father’s Day market Orlandy was contacted last week by a variety of ebay scammers sellers to publicise their range of Land Rover branded merchandise. The initial impulse to dismiss the messages as scum-seller-spam was overcome and boy are we glad we did. We had to take our hats off to the precise targeting of Orlandy’s Land Rover as a potential to give their wares online promotion, however as no commission was mentioned we will choose a selection of items that we consider appropriate to highlight and feature that can be found on a popular shopping web sites.

Products with Land Rover branding

There’s certainly plenty a huge choice of gifts available for Land Rover enthusiasts and here are our top three:-

Mug

A Land Rover Haynes Motor Manual Mug is available in a dedicated Novelty Gifts/ Land Rover section of online shopping price comparison site Savebuckets

it even looks as though no shortcuts were made with the attention to detail - we think that it really does have mechanic’s oily fingerprints included in the design.

Bedding

This one really surprised us - a full set of bedding featuring any of either the Defender, Freelander or Range Rover. The set includes a printed duvet cover with matching pillowcases and a colour co-ordinated plains sheet. The quality of the fabrics used was very good - 100% Egyptian Cotton in a superfine weave but we couldn’t help wonder what sort of chap would rather slip under a Land Rover rather that slip into bed with Kylie - Duvet Cover and Bedding that is.

Picnic Hamper

What would make a perfect companion on a picnic? A wasp swatter perhaps? This Land Rover styled hamper consists of four plates, cutlery and cups for four. Additionally essential accessories are included corkscrew, chopping board and the condiments are catered for with salt and pepper pots included. The Land Rover Picnic Hamper is available from the Heritage Motor Centre

Barely Legal bit…

Orlandys Land Rovers offers these suggestions assuming any legal issues regarding the use of the Land Rover branding has been cleared by the manufacturers and distributors.

As previously mentioned Tata do not have plans to move production of Land Rovers to India, much to the relief of British workers. They have however, expressed an interest in selling Landrovers in India. They would export/import the Freelanders etc. from the Uk as CBUs (completely built units).

Jaguar and Landrover Managing Director Ravi Kant said

“Like Russia and China, JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) would be exploring the Indian market also. A team will be coming to India to study the market,”

Chief Executive David Smith agrees

“We are also seeing some slowdown in North America, but we should be able to compensate for that with more sales in new growth markets like Russia, China, the Middle East and elsewhere, where we are investing significant resources.”

The booming Indian ecomomy has lead Landrovers owners to believe that it could provide them with a lucrative market in coming years.

Following the comment left by Jingle Jangle Jimmy Saville on the previous post it made sense to explore the opportunities afforded by getting a new job within the landrover group.

A quick browse on some of the online UK Job Sites revealed several opportunities for joining Land Rover dealerships although  on the whole they were either looking for an “apprentice” who would work their way up by starting with taking responsibility for the daily cleaning of the showroom vehicles or top flight sales executives to sell up the range to potential customers.

Curiously many of the latest job vacancies were based in the North - yes Jimmy Jingle Jangle jewelery cuntry - and one can only assume that the stubborn mentality of the Northern folk their is, to their credit, keen to resist the temptation presented by the cheaper, more economic yet versatile Japanese 4×4s.

Anyone wanting to develop a career with Land Rover would be expected  to up sticks and work out of the Head Office in Gaydon, Warwickshire which in itself would demonstrate true dedication to the brand.

The Land Rover careers page states: “Whatever your level of experience or specialist job discipline, you´ll find that Land Rover is a business that encourages personal growth and helps put career development on everyone´s agenda”

As most of us know Jaguar Land Rover were recently sold to India’s Tata Motors, as a person that often browses Landrover forums I have noticed there has been some worry about the production being moved over seas, which is why I think a recently released article is very interesting.

Arun Bajaj, managing directory of Radio XL and chairman of the institute of Asian Businesses, expressed that he could understand the concerns that people were having about the situation, which in his words “another British carmaker falls into foreign hands”.

He pointed out though, that before the sale to Tata, Jaguar LandRover was already foreign owned – by Ford. But in his own words “because Tata is from that mystical faraway land of India, I suppose they are seen as ‘more foreign’, and therefore treated with suspicion.”

Arun Bajaj said that he had met with the chairman of Tata, Ratan Tata (pictured above), and that he was convinced that the company had Jaguar Land Rovers interests at heart.

Tata announced that it would be keeping the existing production facilities in the west midlands as if production was moved to India, the niche they have in the luxury car market would be lost as buyers favored to quality British vehicles.

Very good news for us LandRover, Freelander, and anything else like it fans!

The Coventry Telegraph tells of the intrepid LandRover workers who used up 2 weeks of their holiday to drive 3 Discoveries and 2 Defenders 3,318 miles to Moscow in aid of The British Red Cross. I wonder if they would have been better off with a Freelander, certainly more comfortable than 3000 miles in the back of a Defender I would have thought.

If that wasn’t enough, they also stumped up their travelling expenses including campsite, hostels and hotel accommodation. 

After reaching Red Square, the Discoveries and Defenders were handed over to the next team to carry on the adventure through Pakistan, India and China.

The trip was broken into four legs, raising money for The British Red Cross through sponsorship. It was also good news for followers of the team as they had the chance to win a Freelander.

As is synonymous with the brand, LandRover celebrated their 60^th anniversary in style recently, by taking to the air! No, no, they haven’t installed a jet and wings onto a Land Rover! This was an alternative mode of transport, the hot air balloon.

LandRover took 60 people from the desert in Hatta, to the skies above the Hajar Mountains and then back to Dubai.

I like to think this is the kind of thing the Land Rover brand is really about, adventure! I can’t say I have ever been on a hot air balloon, or even a LandRover or Freelander following one. However I do like to think my offroad adventures are good enough!

There were also a number of LandRover vehicles following the hot air balloons, I wonder if there was a Freelander there anywhere?

Let’s hope that the company carries on the way it is, producing these fantastic vehicles while still offering us the true sprit of adventure. Bit jealous I didn’t get in on that balloon ride though!

Landrover released it’s Freelander 2 Commercial (LR2 HSE to our US cousins) recently, as mentioned previously. Having searched for it online today I found that the first reviews are staring to emerge and so far they seem to be very positive. Having not driven one yet myself I was keen to learn about how Land Rover has adapted the Freelander 2 to a more compact size.

While the overall look of the vehicle is similar to the Freelander 2 the interior has been improved as Clare Dear of The National Post says

The LR2’s cabin is comfy, with leather seat surfaces and high-quality materials used throughout. I found the front seat position comfortable, with a lot of head, shoulder and legroom.

Landrover designer Geoff Upex agrees

“The overall look is new and contemporary. The design is chiselled, geometric and simple – it looks like it is hewn from the solid. We have kept a close design relationship with the LR3 and Range Rover Sport, but interpreted the design language to suit the requirements of customers for a more compact SUV.”

The National Post reviewer also states that the Freelander 2 Commercial is well suited to off road driving, citing its Gradient release, Hill decent and electronic traction controls as particularly useful. It’s Terrain Response system (a dial with which you can choose between four different terrain settings) is also praised.

If you would like to do a combination of green laning in your own LandRover combined with a day or weekend away with your partner or friends, a Green Lane tour could be right up your street.

I came across the UK Land Rover Events website and thought what a great way for newcomers to Land Rovers to get a feel for green laning in their Freelander, Discovery or whatever off road vehicle they may have purchased. Its a lot cheaper than hiring one, that’s for sure.

With the Freelander being such a capable offroad machine, considerably cheaper than its bigger brothers, and comfortable to boot, it makes a persuasive case for not looking any further. However, if money is no object then you can’t beat a tasty Range Rover for sheer luxury.

As Ford completes its £1.7bn sale of LandRover and Jaguar to Indian motor company Tata, the current acting CEO of JLR, David Smith, will officially take the top job following the death of Geoff Polites.

The negotiations started last June and the deal was announced in March. Tata Sons and Tata Motors Chairman Ratan N. Tata formally acquired the prestigious Jaguar and LandRover (JLR) businesses from Ford Motor Company at a ceremony in Gaydon on Monday.

“This is a momentous time for all of us at Tata Motors,” said Tata chairman Ratan N. Tata.

“Jaguar and Land Rover are two iconic British brands with worldwide growth prospects.”

“We are looking forward to extending our full support to the Jaguar Land Rover team to realize their competitive potential.”