Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, that is owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India’s Tata Motors. The Land Rover name was created in 1948 by the Rover Company for a utilitarian 4WD off-roader. Yet today Land Rover vehicles comprise solely upmarket and luxury sport utility cars.
Land Rover was granted a Royal Warrant by King George VI in 1951, and 50 years later, in 2001, it received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade. Over time, Land Rover grew into its own brand (and for a while also a company), encompassing a consistently growing range of four-wheel drive, off-road capable models. Starting with the much more upmarket 1970 Range Rover, and subsequent introductions of the mid-range Discovery and entry-level Freelander line (in 1989 and 1997), as well as the 1990 Land Rover Defender refresh, the marque today includes two models of Discovery, four distinct models of Range Rover, and after a three-year hiatus, a second generation of Defenders have gone into production for the 2020 model year—in short or long wheelbase, as before.