2008 Land Rover LRX Concept

2008 Land Rover LRX Concept

In these confusing times of automotive fiscal difficulty combined with needs for fuel efficiency R&D, strange bedfellows have appeared.

It was reported that the British government was giving Land Rover $37 million in order to help them develop a green SUV.

This morning we find out that the new car will actually be a baby Land Rover based on the LRX concept.  The vehicle will share the same platform and much of the same hardware as the Freelander.  But according to Phil Popham, managing director of Jaguar/Land Rover, a hybrid version of the vehicle will be developed. And for the real kicker he said "We are expecting to be under 150g/km at launch and during its lifetime we can get below 120g/km and offer 60mpg with a hybrid."

A 60 MPG Land Rover, who would have thought we'd ever see the day. Well, we actually haven't yet but sure are interesting times ahead.