1 July 2002
Land Rover’s Solihull plant has won this year’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence Award.

The award is a welcome boost for the UK manufacturer after it survived a testing period in 2001. Last year, Land Rover feared that production of the Discovery would have to be halted after one of its main suppliers, UPF Thompson, went into liquidation.

That crisis was averted by a last-minute deal between Land Rover and accounting firm KPMG to maintain supplies - and protect jobs. Then, Freelanders built between August 2000 and March 2001 had to be recalled to attend to potentially hazardous technical faults. One of the more serious faults found was that in some of the the handbrake disengaged when the door was slammed, CARtoday.com reported at the time.

But the Solihull-based manufacturer has evidently experienced greater success in 2002. According to a spokesman for the company, Land Rover was one of six major UK companies short-listed from nearly 300 entrants for the major Manufacturing Excellence Award given by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Land Rover was also a finalist in all six of the awards categories, which included, Best Practice in IT, People Effectiveness, Customer Focus, and Product & Process Innovation, the spokesman added. The company secured the award for Customer Focus, runner-up for Resource Efficiency and was declared the overall winner of the Manufacturing Excellence Award at a ceremony held at The Intercontinental Hotel, in London last week.

“It is a great honour for me to accept this most prestigious award on behalf of Land Rover, but most importantly it is a true testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment demonstrated by all our people,” Marin Burela, Land Rover’s director of manufacturing said. “Winning this award gives recognition to their willingness to embrace change, providing a positive platform for business growth into the future.”

The awards programme was organised jointly between the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Warwick Manufacturing Group, based at Warwick University.

The Premier Automotive Group (PAG) earlier announced plans to no less than R40 billion on building new vehicles like the next generation Discovery, over the next five years.

"We concluded that Solihull provided the best business case to justify the level of and expected returns," Land Rover chairman Bob Dover at the time.

"It is also a tribute to the dedication and commitment of our Solihull workforce and recognition of the improvements that have been achieved since Land Rover became part of PAG,” he added.

More recently, volume production of the new Range Rover commenced on a new production line at Solihull. More than R3,1 billion had been invested in the factory to ensure “that quality levels were world class”, AutoExpress reported in November.

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25 June 2002
Land Rover SA has been awarded export contracts to supply 1 000 left-hand drive Defenders to Angola and more than 3 000 right-hand drive Freelanders and Defenders to Australia.

This follows the recent move by the manufacturer to build Land Rover Freelanders for local distribution at the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa’s Q1, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified assembly plant in Silverton, Pretoria.

“Between February and July 2002, one thousand and eight units, assembled under contract by the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa’s plant in Silverton, Pretoria, will be exported to Angola,” Paul Melhuish, Land Rover SA’s sales and marketing director, said on Monday.

“The contract is essentially between Land Rover UK and Uniao Commercial de Automoveis Angola, with Land Rover South Africa as the manufacturer of certain Defender models,” he added.

Melhuish said 650 had already been delivered to Angola and that the next shipment would leave shortly.

"From November this year we will commence shipment of approximately 3 000 Freelanders and 216 Defenders to Australia.

"The Freelander shipments will comprise of both TD4 and KV6 models, while the Defender 110 CSW and the Defender 130 double cab models will make up the majority of the Defender sales figures.

He added that international expansion was the key to Land Rover’s expected growth, and that the aforementioned contracts were an important step towards growing the business.

"This is an exciting project and proves that we can produce Land Rover in South Africa which can meet international quality standards," Melhuish said.

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15 August 2001
Fancy a long walk in the bush? Well, according to the UK's consumer watchdog Which, that's what you could end up doing if you buy a Land Rover Discovery.

Which conducted a survey among 34 000 of its members on the dependability of their new cars, and of those, nearly 7% (up on 6% reported in last year? survey) broke down within two years of being driven from the forecourt.

Bottom of the list was the Land Rover Discovery, with nearly 19% breakdowns in the two-year period.

And it's not just Disco fever - the Discovery? smaller sibling, the Freelander, has only an 86% reliability record, against the report's overall average of 93%.

At the other end of the scale, owners of the Lexus IS200, the Mazda 626 and MX-5, the Nissan Almera and the 9-3 will be able to drive smugly past cars waiting patiently with their hazard lights on ? thanks to no reported mechanical problems and a 100% record.

Now you know why there are so many mountain bikes strapped to the back of Discos...

Started in the United States six years ago, the Land Rover TReK is designed to strengthen the company's dealer network by pitting a three-member team from each dealership against other dealership teams. Each trio takes part in a series of events that combine off-road driving skills, obstacles, product knowledge, orienteering and other outdoor skills. This year every Land Rover market in the world will be holding its own TReK event for the first time.

"The entire objective of the competition is to boost the morale and enthusiasm of the staff members at Land Rover dealerships whilst enhancing their product knowledge. Essentially, the event doubles up as a training course with a difference. Instead of sitting in a boardroom, participants will gain hands-on experience within the surrounds of our products natural environment," explains Paul Melhuish, Land Rover South Africa's Marketing Director.

While the event is fun, behind it are some serious business motivations. "Land Rover dealerships, which are staffed with true Land Rover enthusiasts, have a strong effect on our potential customers and current owners. Excitement and commitment to the brand are created by encouraging our employees to experience first hand the adventure that Land Rover products offer," Melhuish explains.

The national TReK event will take place over two days. The teams will either compete directly against all of the other teams, head to head with one other team, on their own in a stand-alone activity or in partnership with another team in the various activities.

Competing teams in the competition will have to successfully combine teamwork with winching skills, technical off-road driving, navigation, orienteering, product knowledge and physical fitness. "While the events are of a physical nature, fitness levels shouldn't be too problematic. The various disciplines have been designed to be well balanced, challenging and fun, and will accommodate reasonable standards of fitness within the participants capabilities. But historically, competing teams take the competition very seriously. Last year's winning team in the United States trained for a year before the event," explains Melhuish.

He adds that dealerships, which eye the crown, won't be able to import competitors with skills to help them win the competition. All competitors have to be bona fide permanent employees of a Land Rover dealership.

The event will be held at a venue in Mpumalanga with the 36 participating dealership teams competing for the honour of representing South Africa in the global TReK final.

The international event will be held at the Land Rover Experience in Nelspruit a month later. "It is fitting for the global TReK final to be held in this country," says Melhuish. "Africa is the spiritual home of Land Rover. The brand is synonymous with this continent and in terms of Land Rover's positioning, Africa is where it's at. South Africa was chosen because of our country's established infrastructure. We have the facilities and the people to run this kind of event and the terrain is highly suited to this sort of competition." Essentially 16 international teams will compete in uniquely coloured Land Rover Discovery's, with almost 30 people needed to run the event.

"We'd obviously like to see a South African dealership win the international TReK at their first attempt, but the emphasis on the event is on taking part rather than winning," comments Melhuish. Participants will carry their enthusiasm for the event back to their dealerships, together with the tools and understanding gained to enable them to be better advocates for the Land Rover brand within the dealer network.

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According to Foss, it's not only Land Rover that will benefit from the new Defender line. He explains: "This development is also very advantageous for Ford.
“Besides the fact that we're delighted to be associated with the Land Rover brand, it means great business and job creation possibilities for the factory."

The 100 per cent manual policy (that is, the factory uses no robots) also provides flexibility. As a company spokesperson tells it: “The typical Defender customer is passionate about individualistic vehicles - and the move to Ford spells excellent news in this regard.
“Defender buyers can look forward to more limited edition models in the future.”

Among the company’s “special vehicles” are game-viewing vehicles and police vehicles.
The production line has a capacity of 20 units a day, and is currently running at about six units a day. According to Foss, the company hasn't ruled out the prospect of manufacturing additional models at the plant in the future.

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