Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled the first images of the upcoming Range Rover Velar, a new couple-styled SUV that’ll slot in between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport. It will go on sale this summer priced from £44,830.
If the name sounds familiar to you, it should. ‘Velar’ was one of the code names used to hide the identity of the original Range Rover when it was developed all the way back in 1970.
Most stylish Range Rover model yet
The new version is a much more stylised alternative to Range Rover’s usual fare and will tackle the likes of coupe-styled rivals like the BMW X6, Porsche Macan and Alfa Romeo Stelvio.
Using the same wheelbase and aluminium architecture as the Jaguar F-PACE, the new Velar is all-wheel drive only and comes with Land Rover's vast range of off-road technologies, including Terrain Response 2, which can adapt the car to different off-road challenges.
The gadget-filled interior, which is expected to set the tone for other future Land Rovers, comes with two ten-inch touchscreens which handle virtually all of the SUV's onboard functions.
Land Rover also describes the Velar as the most practical car in its class, featuring highly adjustable rear seats that split 40/20/40 and a boot with 673 litres of space as standard.
2.0-litre and V6 engine options
Engines include an entry-level 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium diesel with outputs of 178bhp or 237bhp. A 247bhp 2.0-litre Ingenium is the entry-level petrol option, while a 296bhp variant will be added to the Velar before the end of the year.
Higher up the range is a V6 diesel with 296bhp and a supercharged V6 petrol with 375bhp. All engines use an eight-speed automatic gearbox and every one besides the V6 petrol is turbocharged too. The entry-level diesel is the most efficient engine option, officially recording 52.5mpg and CO2 emissions of 142g/km.
At some time, the Velar will also get a more extreme performance variant called the SVR, provided by Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division.
"The Range Rover Velar changes everything"
Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s chief design officer, 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.”
Intriguing. McGovern also says that the Velar will make use of advanced engineering as well as, interestingly, a heavy focus on sustainable materials.
The main example of the latter is that the seats, rather than use standard leather, are made of a design textile material which should have a premium feel yet is sustainable. This textile, which comes as part of the Premium Textile interior pack, comes in Dapple Grey and features wool-blend textile contrasted with a Suedecloth insert available in Light Oyster or Ebony.
The Suedecloth fibres are created from recycled plastic bottles and crafted into a textured non-woven material which is soft to the touch. An advanced coating system ensures the Premium Textile interior is durable and can be easily cleaned.