LIR climbs back up
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• As Land-Rover sales plummeted by 30%. in 1986, especially because of falling demand in the third world, a record year for Range Rover sales in Europe has more than made up for the loss. "Sales revenue in 1986 will almost certainly he greater than in 1985," says Land-Rover.
Oil price fluctuations, and third world debt, have all but wiped out Land-Rover's traditional markets in the third world over the last few years. The problem has been compounded by the underpowered diesel option in the European markets. "In Europe we were struggling with the naturally aspirated diesel."
The launch of the turbocharged diesel option at the end of last year, has stabilized Land Rover sales in Europe to 351 in January this year, compared with 343 for January 1986. UK sales are also up in the first month of 1987, for the first time for some years.
The improved sales with the turbo-diesel Land-Rover should enable the company to compete in Europe with the many Japanese 4 x4 offerings, which have also suffered from the loss of third world markets.
1986 Range Rover sales on the other hand, have risen to 14,494 from a 1985 total of 13,314 units. In the UK (where 99% of all sales are the 123kW (165hp) V8 petrol engined 'Vogue' derivative), sales were 25% up to 4,226 units. Favourable tax concessions in Europe mean that the 84k W (112.6hp) VM diesel engine is the most popular option, and sales were up 46% to 7,789 units.
In North America, 36 Range Rover dealers have now been appointed, prior to the public launch this month. Land Rover hopes that US sales of the luxury 4 x4 will exceed 3,000 by March 1988, and there are plans to appoint another 30 dealers should this target be met.
For the Land-Rover model, prospects in the third world continue to look bleak. Reconditioning plants have been set up in Africa to keep the existing vehicles functioning, and to keep the Land-Rover name going. In Europe, the careful marketing juxtapositioning of Land-Rover standard and 'County' models and the Range Rover variants will, it is hoped, provide a sufficient spread of models to prevent the Japanese 4 x4s from further exploiting gaps in the off-road market.