Land Rover LRX Confirmed, First Official Photo Inside

Just a few days ago, the British government announced its decision to provide a 27 million pounds funding package of Land Rover to help the automaker develop a new greener model that would better match the current market demands. And just like we told you, Land Rover will bring the over-discussed LRX Concept model in mass production in the next years, the company confirmed today in a press statement.

"We welcome the Government's support for this project, which would form a key part of our future product plans and which we very much want to put into production," said Phil Popham, Managing Director of Land Rover.

Unfortunately, only a few details regarding the LRX production model have been provided but we do know the model is expected to be released in 2011 and will be built at Land Rover's production facility in Halewood, UK. The model will be the most eco-friendly vehicle in the whole product lineup of the company and will share some parts with the current Freelander.

The model will come in 4-wheel drive form and will keep CO2 emissions below 150 g/km, Land Rover stated in the statement. But, more importantly, it will be badged as Range Rover, as you can see for yourself in the adjacent design sketch.

"It would be the smallest, lightest and most efficient Range Rover that we've ever built," Phil added. "The compact size, lighter weight and sustainability-focused technologies of the LRX Concept showed how Land Rover is planning to respond to the needs of a changing world. Despite the current economic challenges, we remain committed to investing for the future, to continue to deliver relevant vehicles for our customers, with the outstanding breadth of capability for which we are world-renowned."