Who Makes Land Rover Cars?

by Leo Wilkinson

Land Rover is a British carmaker famous for its no-nonsense off-roaders and luxury SUVs. While the first Land Rover model was introduced in 1948, it wasn’t until 1978 that Land Rover became a brand in its own right. Today Land Rover is owned by the India-based Tata Group and it has repositioned itself as a luxury brand.

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Who Makes Land Rover Cars?

British car brand Land Rover is part of the wider Jaguar Land Rover Group, which has been owned by Indian company Tata Motors, part of the Tata Group, since 2008. Prior to that Jaguar and Land Rover were both owned by Ford, while Land Rover was owned by BMW between 1994 and 2000.

Land Rover’s history starts with the Land-Rover model introduced by the Rover Company in 1948. A basic, rugged 4x4 vehicle, it later became known as the Defender and was produced until 2016. British Leyland (by then owners of Rover), introduced the Range Rover in 1970 and in 1978 Land Rover became a standalone brand. Over the years Land Rover added additional models such as the Discovery and Freelander, and since the early 2000s it has increasingly moved upmarket. While all current Land Rover models retain the go-anywhere ability of the original Land Rover and most have four-wheel drive it is now positioned as a luxury brand.

What Sort of Vehicles Does Land Rover Make?

Today, Land Rover makes luxury SUV models. All have evolved from the original Land Rover (Defender) and have impressive off-road capability but they are now high-tech luxury cars with price tags to match.

The current Land Rover lineup in the US is divided into three sub-brands: Range Rover, Defender and Discovery. The Range Rover models are (in ascending order of size and price): Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.

The Land Rover Defender lineup (in the same order) is: Defender 90, Defender 110 and Defender 130, with the recently-revealed Defender Octa – a high-performance version of the Defender 110 – as the range-topper. The Land Rover Discovery lineup consists of the compact Discovery Sport and the larger Discovery.

Land Rover offers plug-in hybrid versions of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport in the US; a pure-electric version of the Range Rover is due to go on sale in 2025.

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by Leo Wilkinson

Leo is a writer and editor specialising in the automotive sector. He has held senior roles at What Car?, MSN Cars, The Telegraph and Cazoo, and since gone on to write for brands including Auto Trader and CarGurus. Over the past twenty-plus years he has driven and reviewed hundreds of cars, from budget-priced runarounds to luxury SUVs.

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