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Land Rover recorded a pre-tax loss of £228m for 2004, according to recent figures featured in the Financial Times (FT).

The figures were drawn from the Ford owned firm's British returns and do not include most of Land Rover's overseas retail earnings.

The launch of both the new Discovery and new Range Rover models in 2004 go some way to accounting for the loss, however, the company also received a £166 million cash injection from Ford during the 2004 period.

Land Rover had recorded its first profit under Ford ownership in 2003 and the company's finance director David Smith told the FT that the business had turned a profit again in the second quarter of 2005.

However, he declined to speculate whether this would translate to a profit for the entire year, going on to highlight the fact that while turnover had risen five per cent, over all costs had risen by 13 per cent.

Land Rover is at the centre of the ever-growing 4x4 market and over recent years the manufacturer has seen new competition surface from the likes of the Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5 and Mercedes Benz M-Class.

With Audi and Lexus set to make new offerings in the luxury SUV market life may not get much easier for Land Rover.