The Freelander 2, built at the acclaimed Halewood manufacturing facility in Liverpool (England), has sold 7,532 units in the UK so far this year – 95 per cent of which are diesels and nearly 30 per cent are top-of-the-range HSE models. It now leads the Compact 4x4 segment outselling rivals such as the new Honda CR-V and the BMW X3.

John Edwards, managing director, Land Rover UK said: “The all-new Freelander 2 is now firmly established as the premium compact 4x4 of choice in the UK. This is a testament to its great design, high levels of quality and improved fuel economy.”

He continued: “The Freelander 2 is the foundation of our business in the UK and will help us to deliver our best ever sales result in the UK this year.”

Land Rover UK has sold over 24,000 units this year. Sales of the Range Rover are up so far this year by 13 per cent – mainly driven by the new and refined TDV8 engine – the Discovery 3 and the Range Rover Sport are currently selling twice as many units as their nearest competitors, and the Defender 07MY has seen its best UK May sales result ever.

“The Land Rover business is in great shape – not just in the UK but across the globe. It is now solidly in the black, with two successive record sales years and it is on target for yet another this year,” said Phil Popham, managing director, Land Rover. “We sell to 147 markets around the globe and more than 40,000 cars into emerging markets like China and Russia that we weren’t selling in five years ago.”