Land Rover May Use Jaguar’s Alloy Platform for New Range Rover Model Larger than Evoque

Revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this year, Jaguar’s C-X17 crossover concept introduced the brand’s new aluminum architecture that will underpin many future Jaguars, beginning with the new sedan due in 2015 that will rival the BMW 3-Series.

While the fate of the C-X17 is not clear yet, it looks like the aluminum platform is very attractive to Jaguar’s sister brand Land Rover. The off-road vehicle specialist may use the architecture to build a new model for the Range Rover lineup.

According to a report from Automotive News Europe, which quotes a source familiar with the plan, the new Range Rover would be positioned between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport.

Analysts say the new Range Rover, code-named L560, will make the platform profitable. “This will have higher pricing, higher volumes and higher contribution margins than any of the Jaguar variants,” Max Warburton from Bernstein Research wrote in a recent report on Jaguar Land Rover. “We believe JLR product planners expect the L560 to sell up to 80,000 units, making it the most profitable variant by far,” he added.

Jaguar Land Rover is investing £1.5 billion (€1.79 billion) to develop the new platform, which analysts say will underpin a production version of the C-X17 crossover as well. For Land Rover, the lightweight platform will bring significant benefits in terms of dynamics, fuel-efficiency and emissions. The report also says the source described the styling of the new Range Rover as “car-like on steroids.”

The L560 is expected to have a similar price to the Land Rover Discovery large SUV.

By Dan Mihalascu

PHOTO GALLERY

Spied: New Range Rover Sport RS and Evoque RS Sound Pretty Aggressive

We first heard the rumors about Land Rover readying more potent and sportier versions of the Range Rover Sport and Evoque with the "RS" nameplate in the summer, and since then, we've actually scooped shots of the former in prototype trim. The Evoque RS, on the other hand, had remained hidden, until now.

A YouTube user who goes by the nickname 'fastsportscardriver' filmed testers of both the Range Rover Sport and Evoque RS models driven on the Nürburgring racetrack.

The bigger Range Rover Sport RS is believed to utilize the Jaguar-Land Rover group's 550hp 5.0-liter supercharged V8 found in a number of cars, including the the Jaguar XFR-S, while the more petite Evoque RS is rumored to be fitted with a tweaked 300hp version of the brand's already available 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four.

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Land Rover Rumored to be Planning Range Rover Evoque XL

A freshly-posted Autocar report quotes Bernstein Research analysts in stating that Land Rover is looking to fill another niche in its Range Rover lineup by slotting a new model between the Evoque and Sport. It will reportedly be based on the same lightweight aluminum construction as Jaguar’s upcoming small sedan and internally goes by the name L560.

Apparently, sales of this larger Evoque are expected to reach 80,000 units every year, selling from between £41,000 - £55,000 ($65,400 - $87,730 / €48,300 - €64,842. It’s set to shine in terms of economy too, taking full advantage of its new architecture and the all-new ‘Hotfire’ four-pot engines that the group is currently working on.

The UK publication mentions this model as being part of four-vehicle offensive planned by the Tata-owned company to unfold by the year 2018, which is to also bring the Jaguar compact saloon/estate, along with a new coupe to market as well.

Be aware that if this model does materialize in the way that they say it will (based on a sedan chassis), then it will by all accounts be the first Range Rover product to not be designed to handle the worst off-road trails in the world. Surprisingly, even the stiffly sprung and not particularly tall current Evoque proved itself extremely capable according to reviews, where you can imagine it was leaned on specifically because it was expected to not perform nearly as well as it ultimately did.

By Andrei Nedelea

PHOTO GALLERY

Range Rover Evoque RS250 Vesuvius Edition by Kahn Design

The compact-sized Range Rover Evoque has become a favorite of British design house Kahn, which has presented another variation of the SUV named the RS250 Vesuvius Edition, inspired by the tuner's take on the larger Range Rover of the same namesake.

New BMW X3 Tops while Range Rover Evoque Flops Consumer Reports' Tests

Just like a Rotten Tomatoes review can make or break a movie’s reputation and its box-office success, Consumer Reports’ road tests have the potential to boost a vehicle's sales or in some cases force a an automaker to run back to the drawing board.
The latest batch of vehicles tested by CR include two SUVs that even though different in size, will compete in the premium segment: the second iteration of the BMW X3 and the brand-new challenger in the category, the Range Rover Evoque.
To sum it up, the BMW X3 xDrive28i scored an 80 in CR's road test and received the “Recommended” tag, while the Range Rover Evoque managed a test score of 60 score and was placed near the bottom of its class.

Land Rover Wraps Evoque Prototypes in Funky Camouflage and Hits the Streets

Still not convinced that Land Rover is marketing the new Evoque (click here for pictures and a video from the presentation) as a hip crossover - even after learning about Victoria Beckham's involvement in the project? Then these photos should do the trick.

What you see here are 10 special prototype versions of the 'baby' Range Rover wrapped in trendy camouflage with each vehicle saying 'Hello' to one of the following cities: London, New York, Sao Paulo, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Berlin, Sydney, Shanghai and Moscow. The imagery on each prototype is actually a GPS mapping trail of the city it represents.