Baby Range

RED –HOT RANGER

From “they might not build it” to “they can’t build it fast enough” the new Land Rover Evoque is rewriting the compact SUV rule book. Could it lead Euro-cars into a bigger share of the Jamaican market?

“Looks nice, but I bet they won’t build it”

That was the general consensus from automotive pundits back in 2010 when the land Rover Evoque first broke cover as a concept. Well its not the first time that critics will be proven wrong. While opinions are still mixed about the overall value proposition of the “baby-Range” asa high-end vehicle in a sub-category almost littered with more pedestrian, affordable options, the numbers, as they say, don’t lie.  How about 70,000 units sold worldwide since its commercial debut in 2011, with a reported backlog of 40,000+ to build. Supermodel-sports wife-popstar

If that’s not enough, Victoria Beckham has already designed a Range Rover Evoque Special Edition, of which limited numbers are being carefully placed in key markets (read: China, the oil-rich Arab world and the US). The awards have been piling in, notably Motor Trend SUV of the Year, N American “Truck” Of the Year (American parlance) and World Auto Design Car of the Year. It will, like its bigger “cousin” the Range Rover and the LR4 (formerly the Discovery) feature in the prestigious Dakar rally.   To put it mildly, Land Rover Design chief Gerry McGovern and the rest of the team must be awfully glad the higher powers did decide to build it. Moreover, It’s not like Evoque has cannibalised sales from other Land Rover models, either. Around 90 per cent of Evoque sales are to customers who have never previously owned a Land Rover product.

While no definitive sales numbers are available, that’s likely to be case also for the Jamaican market. The new SUV is repped by ATL Automotive’s Britannia Motors Division, which also handles sales for Jaguar. Jamaican car buyers tend to have rigid preconceptions about their vehicles and even with the prevailing media overload, old attitudes are unlikely to change in a hurry – a Benz is a luxury sedan, a Porsche is a sports car and a Land Rover is a all-terrain jeep.

Moreover, at roughly twice the price of available “economy” SUVs, the Evoque is essentially a discretionary investment – it will be those who are aware of the Range Rover brand’s intrinsic values but wish to detour from the relatively stodgy design of the apex Range Rover and increasing the “fun-to-drive” stylish components that make the new vehicle stand out.

Those elements are also what make it attractive as a rally vehicle (ironically, with a little help enginewise from competitor BMW). The British Excite Rally Raid Team will race three cars commissioned by RaBe Race Cars and driven by an all-British line-up consisting of Martin Rowe, Andrew Coley and John Hardy. Their T3 race car’s body shell is based on the new Range Rover Evoque. 

But even in these challenging times, the longstanding notions of “price and fuel economy” which have helped Japanese models dominate locally are being put to the test. The Evoque is no mileage champion – most tests this writer has read cite about 24 or 25 miles to the gallon in a variety of conditions. Butthere’s no doubt that the Euro models are catching up on their Japanese counterparts and that the performance column remains – with a few exceptions – in their favour.

Ina any case, as one recent reviewer put it: “No one will buy the Evoque because it’s a bargain. Far from it. You buy it because it looks good (ask designers at Rover competitors) and it’s fun to drive.”

Some super exotics

Land Rover’s new Evoque is positioned as a high-end compact SUV, and it has the styling to fit, but its far from the very top of the automotive pyramid. Here’s peek at some of the four-wheeled wonders that are:

McLaren MP$-12 C

The successor to the famed McLaren F1 boastsa name out of the Star Wars movies (kinda like R2D2) but it runs better than the Millennium Falcon, pushing out just under 600hp from a 3.8 litre engine. It also incorporates its racing heritage into features like “brake steer” where the inside rear wheel is braked during fast cornering to reduce understeer in high-speed cornering.

Price (est) US$300,000:

Lamborghini Aventador

Bring your ego to this car in its most fortified state, because after driving with this “bull” you may have very little of it left. The 6.5 litre engine roars on ignition and zooms the brute from 0-60 mph in a dizzying 2.9 seconds.

Price (est.) – US$377,000

Bugatti Veyron

Named for a former engineer (Pierre Veyron) at this most legendary of exotic carmakers, the Veyron SuperSport is virtually a race car in street kit. Top speed is a staggering 268 mph, and if you’re an economy shopper, get ready for the sticker-shock: US$1.7 million. 

Maserati Granturismo

Not merely the “Swiss Army knife” of the exotics (for its wide variety of available configurations) the “Trident” also represents a comparative value buy, offering good looks, very competitive performance and durability at a starting price of “only” US$135,000. Not bad.