Speaking in Frankfurt, Land Rover's Managing Director, Phil Popham, said the business was in excellent shape with sales continuing to grow and profits “never better”. He forecast sales of over 200,000 units for this year, with 30,000 cars being sold in countries where Land Rover did not have any vehicles five years ago.

Land Rover also announced the latest technology in its drive to cut emissions and given an indication of the design direction for future, sustainable models.

From early 2009, an innovative stop-start system will be fitted as standard to all Freelander 2 TD4 manual vehicles. The system turns off the engine when the vehicle is stationary and automatically restarts the engine when the driver is ready to move off. This prevents the engine from unnecessary idling, eliminates wasting fuel and cuts carbon dioxide emissions. It will help to cut CO2 emissions by over 7% from 194 g/km to 179 g/km. This equates to a fuel economy improvement in a combined cycle (NEDC) from 7.5/100 km to 6.8/100 km.

Land Rover also provided journalists attending the show a sneak preview of its future design and technology direction in the form of a short animated film. This gave a glimpse of a concept that demonstrates Land Rover’s commitment to innovation that embraces the challenges of sustainability while retaining Land Rover’s core values.