Land Rover Freelander gets official launch at British Motor Show

4x4 gets UK launch

20 July 2006 21:26 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Land Rover has officially launched its new look Land Rover Freelander at the British Motor Show in London this week. The new model featured alongside an updated, 2007 model year Range Rover TDV8, a Range Rover Sport TDV6 and a Discovery 3 TDV6 on the show stand.

New from the ground up, the new model, which has been styled to fit in with the Range Rover and recently re-designed Land Rover Discovery will come with 2 engine choices - a 2.2-litre TD4 diesel (160 PS / 118 kW) and a 3.2-litre i6 petrol (233 PS / 171 kW) models.

Style-wise and the new Freelander has taken the air vent grills from the Range Rover, as well as losing the wheel on the back of the car but still grown in length by 2 inches over the older model and this, Land Rover says, has meant it has increased the boot space by around 38%.

Land Rover's managing director, Phil Popham, said: "The Freelander 2 sets new standards in the sector, combining the advantages of a premium car with the attributes of a robust 4x4. We believe that no other compact 4x4 gets closer to blending these best-of-both-worlds abilities".

The Range Rover for 2007 goes on sale from September this year, with the Freelander 2 following it into Land Rover showrooms from December in the UK with a US launch early next year. Prices for the Freelander 2 will start at approximately £22,000 and rise to over £30,000.