It was announced this week, by Land Rover, that their fourth addition to the Range Rover family will be named the Range Rover Velar. The big brother of the Evoque, yet smaller than the Sport, the Velar fills the ‘white space’ between the previous two models, according to Land Rover. The news comes after a record year for Jaguar Land Rover – which saw sales up by 24%.
The name Velar is derived from the Range Rover prototypes in 1969, a year before the very first Range was launched and, almost half a century later, the spirit of Land Rover’s innovation will be immortalised in this new model – unveiled on March 1, 2017, just before the Geneva Motor Show.
The released image of the Velar shows a panoramic roof with an avant-garde infotainment system peeking through – borrowing sleek styling cues like wrap-around taillights from its sister models.
Strategically, Land Rover devised the Velar for customers looking for a $50,000 to $60,000 option – an attractive price tag by Range Rover standards (considering the $42,000 Evoque and the $66,000 Sport editions resulted in an inconvenient $24,000 price-gap between the two former models).
Land Rover Chief Design Officer, Gerry McGovern, said: “We call the Velar the avant-garde Range Rover. It brings a new dimension of glamour, modernity and elegance to the brand. The Range Rover Velar changes everything.” And we certainly await in anticipation, as we’re promised the Velar uses unique sustainable materials and advanced engineering – tackling almost any terrain out there.
In reality, however, most of us will power the Velar through the urban landscape – with all-new consumer technologies being the main hallmark of the latest model. We, too, know this will certainly rival the Porsche Macan. As for engines, you’ll have to patiently wait like the rest of us, until the big unveil at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
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