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Land Rover to Redesign Freelander for 2007
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Next-Gen Freelander to Spin-Off Compact Volvo SUV
The 2005 Land Rover Freelander, a carryover model from last years heavily updated version, is arriving in showrooms at this moment, but back at home in England and across Europe, Land Rovers engineers are hard at work testing and developing the next generation of the compact off-roader.
Though the Freelander is a recent entry to the North American market, it has been a member of the Land Rover family for nearly eight years. It was a huge step forward for the brand, bringing Land Rover and its values to the masses at a reasonably  | | While the 2005 Freelander is just arriving in dealerships, Land Rover is already hard at work designing the next version. (Photo: Land Rover) |
affordable price.
For Land Rover, the Freelander came at the right time - in Europe, at least. The compact SUV market was beginning to boom with the incredibly popular Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV-4. The Freelander would be the companys opportunity to plug the holes in its model range, which at that time  | | While a recent entry to the North American market, the Freelander has been a member of the Land Rover family for nearly eight years. (Photo: Land Rover) |
consisted of two extremes in the off-roader market - the utilitarian Defender and the ultra-posh Range Rover, with the ancient, boxy Discovery sitting in between.
On paper, the Freelander was perfect. It had a moderately powerful series of gasoline and diesel engines, topped by the 177-horsepower 2.5L Rover V6, and was available in a practical five-door wagon, or a fun three-door model with removable hard top.
 | | While on paper the Freelander was impressive, in the flesh it was less than perfect. (Photo: Land Rover) | | align="justify">Off-road, it was better than most cute-ute pretenders, thanks to permanent all-wheel drive, a heavy-duty suspension and
advanced electronics like Hill Descent Control. Of course, the famed Land Rover nameplate was a strong selling point, too.
In practice, the Freelander was less than perfect. Marred by a cheap looking interior, slow acceleration, poor gas consumption and a premium price tag, its initial sales boom quickly faded, with sales the last couple of years relying mostly on brand image. Todays recently updated model, while better, still  | | Next-gen Freelanders are expected to ride on an all-new platform thats based on the Mk.II Ford Focus, shared with Mazda3 (shown) and Volvo S40. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, American Auto Press) |
lags behind most compact SUVs, especially in comparison to BMWs sublime X3, and to the Jeep Liberty, which tromps it off-road.
The upcoming Freelander is set to correct what was lacking with the first-generation model. It will be the next phase in Land Rovers brand overhaul which started in 2002 with the BMW-engineered Range Rover. Just this past year, the British icon pulled the wraps off its all-new Discovery replacement, the LR3, as well as the Porsche Cayenne- and BMW X5-bashing Range Rover Sport.
Next-gen Freelanders are expected to ride on an all-new platform thats based on the Mk.II Ford Focus (shared with Mazda3 and Volvo S40), modified  | | Land Rover is rumored to be sharing development and engineering duties with fellow Premium Auto Group member, Volvo. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press) |
to feature permanent all-wheel drive and a beefed-up suspension for light off-roading.
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