 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2009) |
| Land Rover Freelander | |
|---|---|
 Land Rover Freelander 2 Dynamic SD4 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Land Rover |
| Production | October 1997 – January 2015 |
| Assembly | Halewood Body & Assembly, Halewood, United Kingdom Pune, India Changshu, Jiangsu, China Aqaba Assembly Plant, Jordan |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Compact SUV (1997–2006) Compact crossover SUV (2006–2015) |
| Layout | Transverse front-engine, all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Land Rover Discovery Sport |
The Land Rover Freelander is a series of four-wheel-drive vehicles that was manufactured and marketed by Land Rover[1] from 1997 to 2015. Initially a compact SUV built on a body-on-frame chassis, the second generation model, sold from 2007 to 2015 in North America and the Middle East as the LR2 and in Europe as the Freelander 2, transitioned to a car-based platform which placed it into the compact crossover SUV class, and was developed alongside the Volvo XC60, the Volvo S80 and the third generation Ford Mondeo. The name 'Freelander' is derived from the combination of 'Freedom' and 'Lander'.
After having built exclusively body-on-frame 4WD vehicles for half a century, the first generation Freelander was the brand's first model to use monocoque (unibody) structures,[2] and was offered in three- and five-door body options, including a semi soft-top. The second generation (2007–2015) dropped all two-door options, leaving only a five-door estate car-like body, and – after 62 years – became the brand's first ever to offer a two-wheel drive option (as of 2010).
After a five-year hiatus, the two-door Freelanders were succeeded by the three-door versions of the Range Rover Evoque in 2011, and the five-door generation 2 was replaced by the Discovery Sport in 2015, the nameplate spanning two generations and less than eighteen years.[3]
- ^ "Joint Venture, Subsidiary and Associate Companies: Jaguar Land Rover". Tata Motors. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
- ^ "New Land Rover LR2 / Freelander 2 debuts in London". Autoblog.com.
- ^ Steve Cropley. "2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport - pricing, specs and video". autocar.co.uk.