2012 Range Rover Evoque
The 2012 Range Rover Evoque has been a surefire hit, wowing audiences at its Kensington Palace reveal with its cutting edge looks and brilliant quality. Land Rover is now looking to build on that success by launching another new model designed to fill the gap in the more luxurious Range Rover lineup between the entry-level Evoque and the high-performance Range Rover Sport.
Like the Evoque, this new luxury off-roader will be a niche model with very upmarket undertones. The project is reportedly early in the design phase so details are scarce, however, it is expected that this fourth Range Rover model will be more of a lifestyle-oriented seven-seater vehicle.
Take this to mean that it will probably be more of a luxury crossover rather than a full-on SUV, and thus providing a more substantial gap between it and the existing trio of Range Rovers.
To accelerate its development and keep costs low, many of its parts will be shared with several Land Rover models. This will include powertrains; even a diesel-electric hybrid option planned for launch in a Land Rover SUV sometime in the near future.
Land Rover was expected to launch a seven-seater version of its LR2 model but recent financial turmoil meant the project was shelved. Perhaps the company is now rekindling those plans, but with a more luxurious--and profitable--Range Rover model instead.
[Autocar]
