The Immortal: why Range Rover sales keep rising

The economics of a new model are relatively straightforward. In the first couple of years of its life, the manufacturer tries to sell it at full price, in the middle two or three years, they try to minimise the discounts, and in the last two years they simply try to avoid making a loss on the car as discounts get ever larger.

These rules apply to most mainstream models (premium brands tend to suffer less as they age), but nothing avoids the trap better than the Range Rover. With the same contempt it would display for a small puddle, the Range Rover continues its imperious progress through the sales charts. In 2011, the Mark Three's tenth, and probably last year, sales will be higher than at any time since 2007 – and that is not because dealers have started putting discount signs on the windscreens.