PH Footnote: the Road Rover
Speculation that Land Rover sees its future increasingly on-road starts to snowball.
For anyone struggling to get that name past the lips without grimacing slightly, the nameplate reportedly heralds from the manufacturer's extensive back catalogue of experimental models and was originally mooted to bridge the gap between Rover cars and the Series 1 Land Rover.
The modern iteration, penciled in for production before the end of the decade, is thought to be a direct rival for the Mercedes S-Class and will most likely be an all-electric model aimed at the US and China.
Autocar suggests the Road Rover is being developed in parallel with the next-generation XJ (plausible enough) on an-aluminium platform capable of accommodating either battery packs or an internal combustion engine.
While the Road Rover (or whatever JLR decide to call it) would have some off-road capacity, its real emphasis would be on extreme luxury, and it is reputedly the combination of flagship status along with a zero-emission drivetrain that has led to the model being green lit.
Combine that with JLR's long cherished aim of hitting annual sales of one million units, and the move towards an additional model range - one made to be lower and lighter and considerably more svelte - starts to make a good deal of sense.
But desirable? Or even likeable? That's obviously thornier. JLR must certainly have been emboldened by its most recent 'white space' exercise - Jaguar had never built an SUV prior to the F-Pace but that didn't prove an impediment to people buying in droves before they'd even tried.
Clearly there's no indication yet of what a Road Rover would look like (the rendering shown is Autocar's own) although you wouldn't bet against it heading more or less for the same sleek crossover silhouette.
A Road Rover (and we dare JLR to call it that) with all its associated baggage would represent a challenge far greater than that, and might conceivably test to breaking point the elasticity of the brand's current popularity.
But get it right, and much like the R8 did for Audi or the Cayenne for Porsche, it might just be the car which finally signifies that Land Rover is capable of anything.
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Niche too far with this one. And a cliche too far to say they would sell loads.
I'd like to see a modern Defender and/or Freelander replacement (not happy with the Disco Sport) before this but it's fairly obvious which direction JLR is going and that upmarket luxury.
my drink almost came out my noseApart from a small pool of inveterate fans, is anybody under the impression that Land Rover have been leading the off-road and overland segments? Everything's gone to the Japanese. In some respects, even the Americans are involved.
Meanwhile, Land Rover are mocked for mythic levels of unreliability. The pricing is eye-watering and the attitude is pungent. When viewed from outside the UK, there's almost a sort of "emperor's new clothes" about the brand and its ambitions.
The world would be poorer without Land Rover and its ethos. And I, personally, have no problem with a pivot that places the accent on road (and not off). But there needs to be more oxygen in the room. More of the signature ingenuity that comes only from Blighty -- with less posturing, less dressage.
Obviously they are going where the (huge) margin is and they are not a massive, Toyota sized company, but why not keep their hand in off road with a Defender brand? There's still and enormous market for work trucks, so they could shift volume, but they just gave it all to Toyota. Surely they could still build a decent work vehicle like the Defender was, just make it work properly and be more useable. They could even have an all out assalt of the Pari Dakar, or some other big off road event.
The J bit of JLR doesn't seem to me to get much attention, it's all about the SUV's which are almost now a parody of themselves.
Obviously they are going where the (huge) margin is and they are not a massive, Toyota sized company, but why not keep their hand in off road with a Defender brand? There's still and enormous market for work trucks, so they could shift volume, but they just gave it all to Toyota. Surely they could still build a decent work vehicle like the Defender was, just make it work properly and be more useable. They could even have an all out assalt of the Pari Dakar, or some other big off road event.
The J bit of JLR doesn't seem to me to get much attention, it's all about the SUV's which are almost now a parody of themselves.
I read this idea of the Road Rover as a way to meet forthcoming regulations in California and China. We have yet to see the Defender replacement - between now and Geneva show? But JLR have said it is coming. An all electric version would work on a farm, recharging overnight.
If they can build Jag bodied RRs why not RR bodied Jags
The value of "Range Rover" written across the bonnet makes the Evoque more aspirational than a Disco sport
I can see the appeal of a lower, estate-bodied Range Rover; but the branding is key for the market. Unless JLR are looking to buy an already established brand, or resurrect an old one such as Daimler, then IMO they're treading a dangerous path.
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