LAND-ROVER is to increase production of its Discovery range of

four-wheel drive vehicles to cope with increasing demand.

The West Midlands firm announced yesterday it is to boost output to

550 vehicles a week, an increase of 10%.

In sharp contrast, only a few days ago Jaguar announced plans to axe

700 jobs at its three Midlands factories, blaming the recession, and

Ford has put thousands on short time, and plans to introduce a three-day

week at some factories because of poor sales.

However, the four-wheel drive market has remained strong, especially

in the leisure sector where Discovery competes. In the past year it has

been launched in Japan, Australia, and in several Middle East countries.

Land-Rover Vehicles managing director, Mr Terry Morgan, said

yesterday: ''Orders from both the UK and overseas markets have continued

to increase. We have stepped up production to meet that demand.''

Mr Morgan said production of the utility range Defender has remained

constant all year at 320 a week and the company is now starting to see

an improvement in the luxury sector as well with 370 Range Rovers a week

against 350 in previous months.