Baby Land Rover looks likely

The UK Government has announced a £27 million grant for Land Rover, which will help pay for the development of the smaller, more efficient soft-roader.

While the final decision for production won’t be made until later this year, insiders are calling it the compact Range Rover.

The LRX Concept was first revealed at last year’s Detroit Auto Show and featured a new 2.0L diesel-hybrid powertrain, which when running on biodiesel achieves a fuel-economy of 60mpg (4.7L/100km) and a low carbon emissions rating of 120g of CO2 per km.

Production will be handled at Land Rover’s Halewood facility in the UK, which employs more than 2000 people and is currently responsible for the LR2 (Freelander 2) and the Jaguar X-Type.