A nice little RWC souvenir

Most of the Rugby World Club Land Rovers and Range Rovers have sold, even though you could buy more than 450 copies of the overpriced Adidas All Blacks jersey for the price of one Discovery 4. Apparently most buyers have asked their dealer not to remove the decals. They'd be gone in a flash were one mine; the example I've been driving has attracted so much attention it might as well have been painted bright red with flashing lights. I'm not sure whether they're admiring my choice of vehicle, or looking to see if there's an All Black on board, or just wondering what kind of wanker with too much money would drive around in an SUV decked out like that!

The future of urban off-roading?

I was at Land Rover's HQ today picking up a Discovery 4 in full Rugby World Cup (RWC) colours and spotted in the yard a trailer that contained a Terrapod, ready to be sent back to the UK. For those who don't know it, a Terrapod is an artificial off-road course developed by Land Rover to show off its products in such places as city centres. The course is assembled like a giant Meccano model and it's quite surprising that it all fits in a relatively small trailer. This Terrapod had been used in Auckland during the RWC, providing rides for the public. (The example in the photo is ripped from the Internet and shows a Discovery 3 at the Land Rover Owner magazine show at Malvern in the UK.) Land Rover NZ was pleased with its borrowed Terrapod and is looking carefully at having one built. And that got me thinking that, with the ever-diminishing off-roading opportunities in and around urban areas, maybe the Terrapod represents the future of our favourite recreation. Even though your truck doesn't get dirty and there's nothing to scratch its bodywork, it's a worrying thought.

Of course, there's a point of view that Terrapods are only for sissies:

Defender concept toughens up

Possibly stung by a lukewarm reception to the new Defender DC100 concept by enthusiasts and hard-core users, Land Rover is showing a "tougher" kitted-out version at the Los Angeles motor show. Added gear includes "off-road" 20-inch alloys with Cooper all-terrains, a snorkel, winch and roof rack. The roof rack and20-inch rims suggest, however, that they're still some distance from reality. Here's an earlier report.

The (reasonably) cheap Jeep

Jeep will introduce a "poverty pack" Grand Cherokee Laredo (above) at the start of December. It'll cost $64,990 with the new Pentastar 3.6 litre V6, an engine that almost matches the V8 Hemi. The new V6 diesel will be available for $5000 more. Actually, it's hardly poverty pack – the Jeep still looks really good and retains the essential features, although the air suspension is replaced by a conventional steel suspension and so loses the ability to crank-up high for off-roading.

And here's a case where more might be less – the company is actively considering a 2WD version.

For Wrangler fans, the 2012 model with the Pentastar V6 is due in December.

And now, the business news

After not so long ago being up a muddy track without a recovery rope, Jaguar Land Rover is doing very well, thank you. The company has reported a sales growth of almost 14 per cent over the first half of 2011 compared to the same time last year. Sales for January-June reached 130,090, an increase of 13.8 per cent over January-June 2010. The good news was attributed to a "better product and market mix" along with strong growth in China and Russia.