The New Product Suites
The new product suites, Jaguar Protection Program and Land Rover Protection Program, will be introduced in partnership with LGM Financial Services, Canada鈥檚 leading provider of branded automotive finance and insurance products. Operating under the umbrella titles of Jaguar Protection Program and Land Rover Protection Program, phase one of the new product suites will launch with two products: Vehicle Protection Plan and Lease Excess Wear Protection. Phase two will launch in the coming months to complete the product suites, offering a diverse range of coverage options designed to provide peace of mind and ensure customers enjoy a comfortable ownership experience. The Vehicle Protection Plan provides coverage for various mechanical breakdowns and costly repairs, while Lease Excess Wear Protection allows customers to have a carefree lease experience, knowing they are covered at lease end for certain wear and tear damage. LGM will support the Jaguar and Land Rover Protection Programs with product development, sales tools, retailer support, claims processing and field support. This includes a dedicated bilingual claims and retailer support network with exceptional customer service standards, as well as a best-in-class sales training program.
Ford Motor Company continues its commitment to address the company's social, economic and environmental performance by releasing its 2005 Sustainability Report. The report also provides insight into the company's challenges and successes. Since 2000, Ford has issued a Corporate Citizenship Report to address the company's initiatives regarding social, economic and environmental concerns. As industry, business environment and social expectations continue to evolve, so does the report. It has been renamed the Sustainability Report to better reflect its emphasis on the business case for its approach to environmental and social issues. It is tightly focused on the company's most material issues, and on Ford's overall vision, strategy, challenges and opportunities. Niel Golightly, director, Sustainable Business Strategies, Ford Motor Company. To advise on the report's thoroughness and transparency and to monitor expectations, Ford established a Report Review Committee made up of 13 external stakeholders to participate in the development of the report. Committee members represented human rights, environment, investor, safety and academic communities.
If you just want a regular engine, that鈥檚 fine too, but the choice will be there. As part of Land Rover's push to have some form of electrification available in each of its vehicles, the Discovery now has a mild hybrid variant. 5,000 in possible options. Land Rover now has three separate lines of vehicles. There are four Range Rovers to choose from, and they鈥檙e considered the most luxurious of the lineup. The Defender, just debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show, has both two-door and four-door models, and they鈥檙e the most off-road capable. Discovery is in the middle, with a larger mid-sized version and the Discovery Sport, which I drove here. It may be officially 鈥渃ompact,鈥?but there鈥檚 room for a third row of seats, for a total of seven. The Discovery remains a good-looking SUV. There鈥檚 a new grille with a wider and lower mouth, and new LED headlights that have a distinctive DRL surround to them, for an easily recognized signature. It looked good before; it still looks good.
I wouldn鈥檛 want to do a 400 mile business trip in it because I don鈥檛 have the time. But when the Discovery was ready again I was sad to put the 109 away. By comparison driving the Discovery next day was so bull that I swapped over again. Admittedly our Discovery 2 is no longer a modern vehicle. The point is current models Defender expected have strayed even further from the fun character and driver involvement of earlier beam axle types. Sure current models are among the world鈥檚 best with massive comfort, safety and ability, and they leave beam axle model s looking primitive. But the two are now beyond comparison. We are no longer dealing with a stretch of Land Rover modern or Land Rover traditional. I鈥檓 enthusiastic for both camps, but my passion is in just one. Mind you a racy LRX derivative or the right Defender replacement could easily have me swapping allegiance.
In its niche, it's a good thing: the LR2 still reads "sport-ute," something that can be said of the Mercedes GLK, but not nearly as much of the competition from Audi, BMW, or Cadillac. Trail riders won't admire the lack of a true low range, but the LR2's traction systems are quite sophisticated, and let casual off-pavement drivers choose the right traction mode for the conditions at hand. In our experience, it's more than sufficient for the way these utes are used, anyway. In balance, the LR2 sits more with the German luxury crossovers--the Q5, the GLK--than it does with Japanese hardware like the Acura RDX. It feels more substantial, and sits more upright, and gas mileage is improved, though still not a breakout in the class. It provides more back-seat space than the Japanese crossovers, and its cargo space is above the mean for the class, but there's no third-row seat--that's the province of the bigger LR4. Despite its more traditional role in the Land Rover family, the LR2 reeks of its upscale heritage. It's not nearly as quick as the latest BMW X3 nor as efficient, and it's probably just as off-road-capable than the Benz GLK, not more so. But like those two utes and above all the other contenders, there's some real upper crust in the LR2's folded fenders and in its green-and-silver badge.
