Jaguar-Land Rover’s least priced product in India, the Freelander2 SUV’s CKD assembly in India began a few months ago at the former Tata-Mercedes Benz plant at Chikli, off Pune. ICB managed to snag a lightly camouflaged Freelander2 on testing rounds late yesterday. While it remains to be seen what are the changes that the India assembled Freelander2 will bring to the table when it does see the next facelift, the camouflaging does point out to the fact that Jaguar-Land Rover is up to something with the Freelander2 SUV.
ICB reports that a mild mid career facelift might be what is in the offing for the Indian Land Rover Freelander2. Another story we’re hearing about is that Jaguar-Land Rover, with the help of Tata Motors and its vendors, is embarking on an aggressive cost reduction spree on the Freelander2 by increasing local content. This can ensure that Tata-JLR can take on the European competition by playing the value card, along with the snob value of the Land Rover badge. 2 wheel drive anyone? Whatever be the case, the coming months will reveal what Tata-JLR is up to with the Freelander2.
For now, here’s a brief overview of what the Freelander2 SUV is all about. The 2011 Land Rover Freelander2 SUV comes in an all diesel line up. Both the common rail, turbo diesel engines displace 2.2 liters but come with varying power outputs. The TD4 SE variant gets 150 PS while the SD4 HSE variant gets a peak power rating of 190 PS. Torque outputs though remain same for both the engine tunes at 420 Nm. The engine is mated to a six speed automatic transmission. The TD4 SE variant is priced at an ex-showroom price of around INR 36 Lakhs while the SD4 HSE variant is priced at around INR 41 Lakhs.
Source:
Indian Cars Bikes
