Australian Market History Overview:
The Range Rover commenced production in 1970 in the UK and first sales in Australia date from around 1972. This vehicle appealed to folk who wanted an all terrain vehicle that offered comfort and performance. Originally vehicles were configured with a two door body and 3.5 litre V8 engine. As manufacturing expanded a 4 door version became available and various levels of trim and mechanical specification could be had. This first generation of Range Rover, which has retrospectively been dubbed the ‘Classic’, was replaced in 1994 a new second-generation design code named ‘P38A’. This model was available in both 4.0 and 4.6 litre V8 Rover engines until 2002 when this model ceased production.
The Range Rover First Generation was assembled from CKD packs by Pressed Metal Corporation (PMC) at Enfield, Sydney, between 1979 and 1984. PMC had commenced assembling Land Rovers at its Enfield site in 1956. The first CKD Range Rover was sold in October 1979; the last CKD Range Rover was sold in January 1985. Both 2-Door and 4-Door Range Rovers were assembled by PMC. In all, 5,970 Range Rovers were assembled from CKD packs by PMC. (Source: JRA factory data August 2020)
A change in Australian Federal Government policy at the time meant that CKD assembly of vehicles was no longer financially attractive for local industries. Range Rovers reverted to being imported from the United Kingdom to Australia as completely built up vehicles.
