Land Rover owners in the west country are returning to their vehicles to find mock parking tickets plastered with a, 'Poor Vehicle Choice' anti-4x4 message.
The mock tickets are being planted by a new pressure group The Bristol Alliance Against Urban 4x4s. According to the BBC (here for the full story ) the campaigners say 4x4s are 'polluting and dangerous' in cities.
The group says it is targeting 4x4s because it claims they are often greater in both weight and height.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Land Rover reliability takes a knock
Land Rover's reputation for reliability has taken another knock with the publishing of a survey by Warranty Direct. It says that 44.21% of Land Rovers in their survey had some form of break down in a 12 month period.
That compares with just over 8% for the best-rated manufacturer Mazda.
Audi has nothing to shout about either with a 36.74% break-down rate.
Jeep did worse than Land Rover with 46.36% running into trouble within a year.
Warranty Direct say the figures refer to vehicles between three and nine years old and for which theyve sold warranties. There is no information on whether or not more of the Land Rovers in the survey were closer to nine years old compared to the Mazdas!
That compares with just over 8% for the best-rated manufacturer Mazda.
Audi has nothing to shout about either with a 36.74% break-down rate.
Jeep did worse than Land Rover with 46.36% running into trouble within a year.
Warranty Direct say the figures refer to vehicles between three and nine years old and for which theyve sold warranties. There is no information on whether or not more of the Land Rovers in the survey were closer to nine years old compared to the Mazdas!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Land Rover faces 'class action' over Discovery
An American Discovery (LR3) owner glorying in the name Lew Colon is taking action against the company over excessive noise which he says is caused by uneven tyre wear.
Reporting on the story, Americas ABC Local said dozens of similar complaints are posted on a forum at Edmunds.com, too.
Colon complained to Land Rover and did get them to pay for one tyre. He says the firm issued a technical service bulletin relating to uneven tyre wear but has not issued a recall.
Attorney Mark Anderson has now filed a class action suit on behalf of all 2004 and 2005 LR3 owners in California who would be covered by the technical service bulletin.
Reporting on the story, Americas ABC Local said dozens of similar complaints are posted on a forum at Edmunds.com, too.
Colon complained to Land Rover and did get them to pay for one tyre. He says the firm issued a technical service bulletin relating to uneven tyre wear but has not issued a recall.
Attorney Mark Anderson has now filed a class action suit on behalf of all 2004 and 2005 LR3 owners in California who would be covered by the technical service bulletin.
Monday, January 08, 2007
4x4 sales dip? What 4x4 sales dip?
Land Rover has scored a global sales record for the second year running. In 2006 the firm sold 192,500 vehicles around the world, an increase of 4 per cent (8,500 vehicles) on 2005. And now the US is Land Rover's single biggest market with a sales increase of 3.5 per cent.
Sales in the US were driven by the phenomenal success of the Range Rover Sport, which saw an 80 per cent growth. There was also significant progress in emerging markets such as Russia, which saw its sixth successive year of growth, and the Middle East and North Africa region where sales increased by 54 per cent and 43 per cent respectively, says Land Rover.
In the UK, sales of Range Rover Sport and Range Rover increased by 52 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively in a year which saw the run out of Freelander, which ceased production in July. The all new Freelander 2 only went on sale in the UK in December, but still notched up nearly 900 sales in this traditionally short sales month.
Phil Popham, Land Rover's Global Managing Director, said, "This is a fantastic achievement given we were without our volume product for most of the year and provides a firm foundation for the launch of the all new Freelander 2, a vehicle designed for a global market. We need to maintain this momentum in 2007 and continue to make progress in new markets."
Land Rover's modern, clean and efficient diesel engines are now dominating the UK market, accounting for 92 per cent of sales. Demand for the new TDV8 Range Rover saw diesel derivatives of the model surge by 145 per cent in the final quarter of last year.
John Edwards, Land Rover's UK Managing Director, said, "The Range Rover is the UK's best selling luxury car and with this new engine customers can get petrol levels of performance with a 32 per cent improvement in fuel economy."
Sales of Range Rover Sport have exceeded 75,000 since its launch to become Land Rover's best selling model. Discovery 3 continues to collect critical accolades with 85 international awards to date.
Sales in the US were driven by the phenomenal success of the Range Rover Sport, which saw an 80 per cent growth. There was also significant progress in emerging markets such as Russia, which saw its sixth successive year of growth, and the Middle East and North Africa region where sales increased by 54 per cent and 43 per cent respectively, says Land Rover.
In the UK, sales of Range Rover Sport and Range Rover increased by 52 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively in a year which saw the run out of Freelander, which ceased production in July. The all new Freelander 2 only went on sale in the UK in December, but still notched up nearly 900 sales in this traditionally short sales month.
Phil Popham, Land Rover's Global Managing Director, said, "This is a fantastic achievement given we were without our volume product for most of the year and provides a firm foundation for the launch of the all new Freelander 2, a vehicle designed for a global market. We need to maintain this momentum in 2007 and continue to make progress in new markets."
Land Rover's modern, clean and efficient diesel engines are now dominating the UK market, accounting for 92 per cent of sales. Demand for the new TDV8 Range Rover saw diesel derivatives of the model surge by 145 per cent in the final quarter of last year.
John Edwards, Land Rover's UK Managing Director, said, "The Range Rover is the UK's best selling luxury car and with this new engine customers can get petrol levels of performance with a 32 per cent improvement in fuel economy."
Sales of Range Rover Sport have exceeded 75,000 since its launch to become Land Rover's best selling model. Discovery 3 continues to collect critical accolades with 85 international awards to date.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Land Rover maps out quicker, cheaper navigation
Land Rover's New Year resolution is to make it easier for owners to get 2007 off to a fresh start with the latest satellite maps.
Drivers can now order navigation system map updates through a new online facility and by selling direct to customers, many disks can be offered at less than half the original price.
Traditionally, update CDs and DVDs have been sold through Land Rover dealers, however, Phil Popham, Land Rover MD, says, "As a company we embrace the use of technology to develop the ownership experience and this is clearly demonstrated with this new facility. The ability to obtain the latest map information on-line gives our customers a simple, cost effective method of keeping their navigation systems updated."
The new page for ordering map updates is now online at www.navigation.com/landrover
The new system, which replaces existing sources, is easy to use. Once the car model and year of manufacture have been entered, the right disk or package of disks for that system will automatically be identified map disks and navigation systems are not standard across all Land Rover models.
There are three different navigation systems currently in use in Land Rover vehicles and NAVTEQ maps are available for all of them. For example, depending on the system, there is a four CD pack covering over 20 countries in Western Europe and some major roads in Eastern Europe which covers around 5.9 million kilometres of road and features over 490,000 points of interest. It also includes Traffic Message Channel codes on motorways in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
Again depending on the vehicle model, there are also CDs for individual countries and a pan-European DVD which features around four million kilometres of road and enough maps on one disk to guide drivers from the wilderness of Scotland to the French Riviera and from the fjords of Norway to the tip of Italy.Visitors to the site will also be able to access a range of information on mapping including the details on how much new information has been added to the disks for example NAVTEQ has added nearly 200,000 kilometres and over 50,000 points of interest to the pan-European DVD since the last Land Rover release
Drivers can now order navigation system map updates through a new online facility and by selling direct to customers, many disks can be offered at less than half the original price.
Traditionally, update CDs and DVDs have been sold through Land Rover dealers, however, Phil Popham, Land Rover MD, says, "As a company we embrace the use of technology to develop the ownership experience and this is clearly demonstrated with this new facility. The ability to obtain the latest map information on-line gives our customers a simple, cost effective method of keeping their navigation systems updated."
The new page for ordering map updates is now online at www.navigation.com/landrover
The new system, which replaces existing sources, is easy to use. Once the car model and year of manufacture have been entered, the right disk or package of disks for that system will automatically be identified map disks and navigation systems are not standard across all Land Rover models.
There are three different navigation systems currently in use in Land Rover vehicles and NAVTEQ maps are available for all of them. For example, depending on the system, there is a four CD pack covering over 20 countries in Western Europe and some major roads in Eastern Europe which covers around 5.9 million kilometres of road and features over 490,000 points of interest. It also includes Traffic Message Channel codes on motorways in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
Again depending on the vehicle model, there are also CDs for individual countries and a pan-European DVD which features around four million kilometres of road and enough maps on one disk to guide drivers from the wilderness of Scotland to the French Riviera and from the fjords of Norway to the tip of Italy.Visitors to the site will also be able to access a range of information on mapping including the details on how much new information has been added to the disks for example NAVTEQ has added nearly 200,000 kilometres and over 50,000 points of interest to the pan-European DVD since the last Land Rover release
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
