Land Rover Production By Model : 1970-2014

By Gavin Kalsi Monday, 29 May 2017

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Trying to put production history together from 1948 to 2014 is no mean feat. Thankfully there are enough LR boffins and lovers of all things Landie to research the brand's fascinating history. Based on the WW II Jeep, it was conceived so as to use aluminium which was available (unlike steel at the time) to make a farm vehicle. No one envisaged it continuing in production the way it did and was soon seen all over the world providing transport in even the most hostile environments.

Defender: Getting accurate data is a challenge and it seems the Defender figure may be a tiny bit lower than it should be. The 2 millionth was made around June 2015 so my figures up to 2014 look just a tad on the low side. Not much in it. The word icon is overused but what is known as the Defender is that in every sense of the word. They comprise about 45% of all Land Rovers ever made, although in fairness they have a jump on the others longevity wise. About 30,000 p.a. have been made over about 67 years.

Discovery: Also known as the LR 3/4, it is the second most made Land Rover model. It is a mid sized vehicle that in some ways sums up what the modern LR is as, a utilitarian vehicle with comfort and serious offroad ability. It's reliability reputation has at times been below where it should but it is much better now and seems to be enjoying a production revival despite this series being introduced in 2009. Production was inititally modest but it soon gathered pace. There have been four series so far of the model and nearly 45,000 p.a. have been made over 25 years.

Freelander: Also known as the LR 2, it hit the ground running in 1988. The first LR to be an instant hit, and it has maintained a strong following, especially in Europe. It should have been released sooner but the Rover Group at the time didn't allocate the necessary funds to do so, being somewhat cash strapped as it was. Over its life, it only came in two series and has been replaced in 2015 by the Discovery Sport. If you count the latter as a different vehicle (as I do), then it is the first LR to be discontinued. About an average 57,000 vehicles were made each year, just falling short of a million units.

Range Rover: When LR mulled over a second vehicle for the brand, building a utility vehicle with an upmarket side to it was a bold move. Initial production number suggest it took a few years to really accepted. It is now selling better than ever! Some of the latter figures are rounded because they are included with RR Sport when released. I have based them on sales figures in order to separate them. Now in its 4th series, 20,000 p.a. have been made over a 43 year period.

Range Rover Sport: As the name suggests this is the sportier version of the above. The first series was based on the Discovery chassis, not the Range Rover as the name would suggest. The second series now in production is RR based, with aluminium being used extensively to improve efficiency. The new series has sent sales to new heights in 2014. Well over 50,000 units have been produced each year on average.

Evoque: This compact SUV is the least produced in total of the range being the newest. It is less than four years old as of the end of 2014. Still, it already has exceeded 400,000 units produced and one would expect it will be the fastest LR vehicle to reach one million sales. It has recently been made in China and that is not included in the data. Annual production 116,000 p.a.

Year	Evoque	RR Sport	Range Rv	Discovery	Freelander	Defender	Total
Prior	-	-	-	-	-	656,577	656,577
1970	-	-	-	-	-	47,538	47,538
1971	-	-	2,633	-	-	56,703	59,336
1972	-	-	5,510	-	-	52,445	57,955
1973	-	-	6,519	-	-	49,724	56,243
1974	-	-	8,604	-	-	45,169	53,773
1975	-	-	10,516	-	-	52,681	63,197
1976	-	-	12,207	-	-	48,512	60,719
1977	-	-	9,667	-	-	41,452	51,119
1978	-	-	11,240	-	-	46,172	57,412
1979	-	-	11,373	-	-	42,936	54,309
1980	-	-	9,708	-	-	33,697	43,405
1981	-	-	10,441	-	-	20,994	31,435
1982	-	-	13,255	-	-	28,384	41,639
1983	-	-	12,182	-	-	22,473	34,655
1984	-	-	11,897	-	-	25,562	37,459
1985	-	-	14,212	-	-	31,046	45,258
1986	-	-	14,486	-	-	19,195	33,681
1987	-	-	20,778	-	-	20,475	41,253
1988	-	-	24,021	-	-	22,229	46,250
1989	-	-	28,507	3,296	-	23,437	55,240
1990	-	-	24,194	23,067	-	21,210	68,471
1991	-	-	16,412	19,261	-	18,915	54,588
1992	-	-	15,334	24,312	-	17,416	57,062
1993	-	-	14,780	35,744	-	17,482	68,006
1994	-	-	17,259	54,499	-	22,265	94,023
1995	-	-	29,629	69,904	-	27,600	127,133
1996	-	-	30,506	66,388	-	31,724	128,618
1997	-	-	30,451	59,053	3,503	36,169	129,176
1998	-	-	27,509	48,799	60,577	31,704	168,589
1999	-	-	17,959	54,801	69,186	24,155	166,101
2000	-	-	18,477	56,364	71,391	29,376	175,608
2001	-	-	13,790	41,788	71,859	25,364	152,801
2002	-	-	27,497	43,030	72,040	29,555	172,122
2003	-	-	31,305	45,043	58,915	26,912	162,175
2004	-	-	33,732	41,668	61,215	27,239	163,854
2005	-	39,293	27,759	56,159	41,340	23,075	187,626
2006	-	58,108	28,308	50,633	27,686	24,642	189,377
2007	-	60,990	30,088	43,919	76,335	23,392	234,724
2008	-	45,602	23,812	35,035	59,137	25,881	189,467
2009	-	30,064	14,374	20,982	35,405	15,899	116,724
2010	-	47,002	25,000	39,002	52,668	17,605	181,277
2011	40,212	55,829	30,000	45,742	48,753	20,563	241,099
2012	112,331	56,935	28,000	45,161	52,993	16,328	311,748
2013	127,302	59,101	45,000	42,907	57,618	18,513	350,441
2014	126,707	86,241	55,000	50,631	48,049	19,126	385,754
Total	406,552	539,165	893,931	1,117,188	968,670	1,979,511	4,378,054
Avg	116,158	53,917	20,550	44,688	56,981	29,767	65,835
Year	Evoque	RR Sport	Range Rv	Discovery	Freelander	Defender	Total

Data source: Various (and thanked very much for their contribution).

Summary: The Defender is about to end production in the UK, I assume to recommence somewhere like India and sold where it still can be. A new model will come but this is an impossible act to follow, so the best thing to do is forget its forbear and look at it a new model. The Discovery Sport (below) will be a winner and in my estimation it is the best all round vehicle available today (it would happily sit in my garage). LR production will soon reach 5 million units. What an amazing company LR is.