The rationalisation of car production in the late 1970s by British Leyland had almost wiped out their all their major British car brands.
At Solihull all car production, except for Land Rover vehicles, ceased at Lode Lane.
Land Rover and Range Rover as specialist lines of the old Rover Company had remained relatively unscathed from the British Leyland bankruptcy and were split as separate operating company based there.
 The Rover SD1 assembly hall and paint shop were mothballed, and production of that car was moved to the former Morris plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire.
 All future Rover car production would take place both here, and at the Austin assembly plant in Longbridge.
 Following the de-merger of Jaguar from BL in 1984, the Range Rover became BL's flagship product and a stable situation existed from thereon, with new models such as the Discovery debuting in 1989, and the Freelander in 1998 - which finally made use of the old SD1 assembly hall.
 In 2000, the situation changed once again when BMW (by now the owners of the Rover Group - the successor to BL) decided to sell Land Rover (and the Solihull plant) to Ford.

In 2005, production of the Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport at the Solihull plant was temporarily interrupted by protestors from the environmental organization Greenpeace.
The protesters infiltrated an assembly facility and temporarily delayed production of the vehicle.
Greenpeace cited issues with greenhouse gas emissions, and by extension, global warming.
 The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates for the non-supercharged car are 14 mpg‑US (17 L/100 km; 17 mpg‑imp) (combined).
Although for this test the EPA used their newly calibrated system for 2008 and on.
Greenpeace stated they did not take issue with the production of vehicles such as the Land Rover Defender as they are typically used for off-road applications on a much more frequent basis than vehicles such as the Range Rover Sport which they claim "has been tuned primarily for on road performance".

In March 2008, Ford finalised a deal to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors – part of the Indian-based Tata Group, one of the world's largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles.
The rationalisation of car production in the late 1970s by British Leyland had almost wiped out their all their major British car brands. At Solihull all car production, except for Land Rover vehicles, ceased at Lode Lane. Land Rover and Range Rover as specialist lines of the old Rover Company had remained relatively unscathed from the British Leyland bankruptcy and were split as separate operating company based there.  The Rover SD1 assembly hall and paint shop were mothballed, and production of that car was moved to the former Morris plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire.  All future Rover car production would take place both here, and at the Austin assembly plant in Longbridge.  Following the de-merger of Jaguar from BL in 1984, the Range Rover became BL's flagship product and a stable situation existed from thereon, with new models such as the Discovery debuting in 1989, and the Freelander in 1998 - which finally made use of the old SD1 assembly hall.  In 2000, the situation changed once again when BMW (by now the owners of the Rover Group - the successor to BL) decided to sell Land Rover (and the Solihull plant) to Ford.
In 2005, production of the Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport at the Solihull plant was temporarily interrupted by protestors from the environmental organization Greenpeace. The protesters infiltrated an assembly facility and temporarily delayed production of the vehicle. Greenpeace cited issues with greenhouse gas emissions, and by extension, global warming.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates for the non-supercharged car are 14 mpg‑US (17 L/100 km; 17 mpg‑imp) (combined). Although for this test the EPA used their newly calibrated system for 2008 and on. Greenpeace stated they did not take issue with the production of vehicles such as the Land Rover Defender as they are typically used for off-road applications on a much more frequent basis than vehicles such as the Range Rover Sport which they claim "has been tuned primarily for on road performance".
In March 2008, Ford finalised a deal to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors – part of the Indian-based Tata Group, one of the world's largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles.
Solihull plant