Range Rover beauty over brawn

RANGE Rover looks to put luxury and design ahead of off-road ability with their new Crossover in 2021.

The vehicle will be offered with a choice of all-electric, plug-in and hybrid options and will be based on the MLA foundations of the forthcoming full-sized fifth-generation model.

Land Rover are keeping details of the Crossover tightly under wraps but it is believed that the new model is to be assembled at the Castle Bromwich facility.

Released images show it to be the lowest and sleekest SUV produced by the firm. With a steep sloping windscreen, a swept-back roofline and slender LED headlamps.

The release will mark a turning point for Land Rover who started with a boxy four-wheel drive, off-road model in 1948 and went on to produce military vehicles for the British and Australian Army. Now sees a continued move into a market that includes design, road comfort and luxury as its focal points.

Land Rover’s Design Director, Gerry McGovern, is quoted as saying ”What we’ve actually shown is the ability of the brand to stretch and be different. We always have been quite pioneering. Let me just put it this way – if people like Bentley and Rolls-Royce can do an SUV, why can’t Land Rover or Range Rover do a luxury car?”

Little is known of the planned mechanical structure for the Crossover but the upcoming MLA platform can house an electric motor on each axle, supplying four-wheel drive. With smaller dimensions it will also feature a smaller battery than the 100kWh unit planned for the full-size all-electric Range Rover, allowing the lower kerb weight to provide a similar range of about 300 miles.

Land Rover will seek to maximise that range by optimising the new model’s aerodynamic efficiency, hence the decision to pursue a lower, crossover-style machine.

The electric Crossover will be one of the key models in a continued expansion and reinvention of Jaguar Land Rover’s line-up

Jaguar Land Rover’s struggles in China have been a factor in the company’s financial woes, improving its performance in the country is a key part of the turnaround strategy. With the Chinese government favouring fully electric cars, the Crossover will be vital to the firm’s renewed push in the country.

In a presentation to investors this year, company bosses said they planned 14 new or refreshed nameplates next year including electrified versions of existing models – with 16 more following from 2021 onwards.

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Damon Mitchell

From the interviewed to the interviewer

As frontman of a rock band Damon used to court the British press, now he lives the quiet life in Spain and seeks to get to the heart of the community, scoring exclusive interviews with ex-pats about their successes and struggles during their new life in the sun.

Originally from Scotland but based on the coast for the last three years, Damon strives to bring the most heartfelt news stories from the spanish costas to the Euro Weekly News.

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