In the mid-80s Land Rover engineers and designers were working on vehicle, intended for a family car market segment. It was decided to use a Range Rover wheel base with a simpler and less expensive body. The result of hard work on the project was the Land Rover Discovery, presented on 16 September 1989 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Discovery was for Land Rover’s pioneer project for a new market segment of all-wheel drive cars.
In 90’s Land Rover car brand had change its owner few times. In 1994 Rover Group and its Land Rover division was bought by German automotive industry giant BMW. In 2000, Rover Group was broken up by BMW and Land Rover was sold to Ford Motor Company. And in 2008, Ford sold Land Rover to Indian company Tata Motors.
In 1997 Land Rover Freelander was launched. More compact than Discovery, this sport utility vehicle became Europe’s best-selling four-wheel drive model. It was produced for 19 years, changing two generations.