In a world where SUVs are not particularly welcome and where regulations are more and more constraining, Land Rover’s future is threatened despite the Britishness that protects it from having the bad image suffered by American gas guzzlers. Land Rover must change and its CEO, Geoff Polites, is well aware of the situation. It is widely known that the British carmaker is actively working on a hybrid version of the future Range Rover. Unfortunately this alone will not be enough and Solihull is considering a baby Land Rover, smaller than the Freelander II.
Indeed, despite being Land Rover’s smallest vehicle, the Freelander II still produces 194 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer in its least polluting version. This is almost twice the average level stipulated by the European automaker regulations, due to come into force in 2012.
As of now, Land Rover has still not made any formal decision regarding the baby Land. Geoff Polites told the Financial Times that such a car will be produced if people are ready to buy it. Considering the hype of the Range Rover Sport among wealthy people, asking them to replace it by a small SUV/crossover is likely to prove a real challenge.
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