Land Rover wins lion's
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share of MoD light fleet • The Ministry of Defence's long-awaited and controversial order for £200million-worth of new vehicles to meet the Army's light and medium truck utility has largely gone to Land Rover.
The bulk of the order is for 8,000 Defender XDs plus another 800 with Marshall's field ambulance bodywork, all with diesel engines.
They are required as replacements for around half of the Army's current Land Rover fleet.
Austrian manufacturer Steyr Daimler Puch's share of the overall order is £4m for another 65 Pinzgauer heavy duty truck utility medium 4x4s to support the 400 already in service with the Army.
SDP, which expected to get the lion's share of the order, is disappointed, believing its reliability and whole-life costs were more relevant.
According to the Minister of State for Defence James Arbuthnot though, both marques met operational requirements but in the end the MoD plumped for Land Rover's lower price tag and commonality with the Army's existing fleet.
The contracts will help sustain more than 500 UK jobs with Land Rover and Marshall's of Cambridge being the major beneficiaries.
Ryder is to supply the MoD with 2,500 non-operational Bvehicles to re-equip British forces in Germany. Over 120 vehicles in the contract will be 45, 55, 65 and 75-Series trucks supplied by Leyland Daf and supported through the Daf Trucks dealer support network.