Next entry-level Land Rover likely to lose Freelander moniker

[nadepalma]

Source: http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...02/1041/SEARCH

Name Games: Next entry-level Land Rover likely to lose Freelander moniker

By AMY WILSON | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
AutoWeek | Published 02/20/06, 1:09 am et


Land Rover says it will say more about the possible new name for the next-gen Freelander this summer.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Land Rover likely will rename its entry-level SUV in the United States when a redesigned model goes on sale here next year.

"It probably won't be called the Freelander," said Richard Beattie, executive vice president of marketing, sales and communications for Land Rover North America Inc. He was speaking after a breakfast meeting for Land Rover dealers.

The next-generation small SUV is scheduled to go on sale in Europe this fall and then arrive in North America in spring 2007. It replaces the Freelander sold here from 2001 through 2005. Land Rover stopped importing the Freelander to the United States last year.

Beattie wouldn't reveal what the new name might be. In the past, Land Rover officials have said they want to move to alphanumeric names. A spokesman said Land Rover would say more about the possible new name this summer.

Officials wouldn't confirm whether the Freelander name would be preserved in other markets.

But Mike O'Driscoll, North American president of Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover, said the company may take the approach it adopted when it replaced the Discovery in 2004. The redesigned model is called the LR3 in North America and the Discovery 3 in the rest of the world.

Land Rover executives also told dealers:

-U.S. sales in 2006 are expected to top last year's 2005 record mark by a double-digit percentage. Land Rover sold 46,175 vehicles in 2005, a 30 percent increase from the prior year.

But the new Range Rover Sport, which is performing well, was available only during the second half of 2005. A full year of the Range Rover Sport will propel a sales increase in 2006, Beattie said.

-More supercharged Range Rovers and Range Rover Sports will be allocated to U.S. dealers. Inventories right now are extremely tight. Days supply is in the mid-teens for supercharged models, Beattie said.

Dealers want more volume of both supercharged and regular models, said Michael Levitan, head of Land Rover's dealer council. He has some customers who wait 90 days or more for their orders.

"It's a nice problem for us. Obviously, the dealers would like a little more," said Levitan, who also is the Land Rover-Jaguar division president for the Long Island Automotive Group. "But you have to balance that. You don't want to saturate the market."

[nadepalma]

There was a snipet in one of the US monthly car magazines (I think it was Motor Trend) that said that Land Rover was going to rename the Freelander the "LR2" when the new car goes on sale.

I think this is a dub move -- and not cause of the alpha-numeric bit. If they have to rename the vehicle for some sort of negative image that's fine.

But what irks the hell out of me is that the LR3 is still the Discovery pretty much EVERYWHERE else around the world (including the UK) but not in the States. The Disco name had a lot of value and makes no sense at all to have renamed it. Why would they do this? And now the Freelander as well.

In the back of my head, I almost wonder if this is some sort of a singling out of the American market -- as if Americans are too 'stupid' to accept the Freelander/Discovery/etc nameplates and they only gravitate toward alpha-numeric names?

[ocmdog]

Good question. I feel the same way.

[Bravada]

Originally Posted by nadepalma

But what irks the hell out of me is that the LR3 is still the Discovery pretty much EVERYWHERE else around the world (including the UK) but not in the States. The Disco name had a lot of value and makes no sense at all to have renamed it. Why would they do this? And now the Freelander as well.

Disco is a legend (pun not intended, but perhaps nomen omen). I don't get it at all. I was even wondering whether it's obligatory for smaller SUVs to have different names for Europe and the US (Escape/Maverick, Liberty/Cherokee, LR3/Disco, Pajero/Montero).

In the back of my head, I almost wonder if this is some sort of a singling out of the American market -- as if Americans are too 'stupid' to accept the Freelander/Discovery/etc nameplates and they only gravitate toward alpha-numeric names?

Don't want to offend anyone, but there might be something in what you say. For example it was obvious to me that Celsior and Aristo sound better than LS and GS, but such a notion of mine was contested here once I voiced it. In Europe, even trim levels (traditionally an acronym territory) are now given proper names.

[69Firebird400]

Originally Posted by nadepalma

In the back of my head, I almost wonder if this is some sort of a singling out of the American market -- as if Americans are too 'stupid' to accept the Freelander/Discovery/etc nameplates and they only gravitate toward alpha-numeric names?

I think "real" names are easier to remember than alphanumeric, or pure alphabetic (ahem - MKX - ahem) ones. I'm pretty good with car names, and the alphabet soup sometimes throws me off briefly. It seems that they're giving Americans credit for being more intelligent, that we have the ability to remember non-words that people elsewhere may not be able to.

[asim]

Yeah...I never really liked the Freelander name...

[johnny smallblock]

The article misses the big question. If the Disco is the LR3 and the Freelander is the LR2, when will Land Rover release an LR1, presumably to do battle with the Wrangler? And will it beat the H4 to market?

[gopedxr7]

i did not know they still sold the freelander. i really hate it when companies call their cars leters and numbers and not names. especially when its a good name plate.

Alan