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Range Rover Evoque “Choose” is live on landrover.com–Check out the colors, wheels & interiors

evoque-models

A reader named Mario tipped me off to this – Land Rover has gone live with a “Choose” option on the Evoque section of landrover.com – It’s currently visible in both the UK & USA, and I’m sure other countries too.  It’s mostly there to show you colors; not really specific options.  But we do finally see what a Dynamic interior will be.

I’ll put up all the various colors and interiors later, just wanted to get this out there.

Quick interesting items – the US site is missing the Prestige model.  And all the interior shots they show are missing the Dynamic program from their Terrain Response controls, this was present in the pictures they put out last week as well as the vehicles they were showing in Paris.  Maybe it will be an option?

 

More later…

2010-10-08T13:25:03-04:00October 8, 2010|
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Dr. Peter Mertens has joined Jaguar Land Rover as Director, Quality and the Automotive Safety Office.

If Land Rover can really start to get their ratings up in quality & reliability they really could be unstoppable.  With their continued record breaking sales, their real Achilles heel is the poor ratings they get year after year from J.D. Power & the like.  Imagine where they’d be if they could come out on the top of that list.  Let’s hope Dr. Mertens can make that happen – especially with the launch of the updated & new models over the next few years.

And here’s the official press release:

Peter Mertens has joined Jaguar Land Rover as Director, Quality and the Automotive Safety Office.

Dr. Mertens, who takes up his position with immediate effect, will assume global responsibility for Jaguar Land Rover’s quality and safety performance. He reports directly to Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ralf Speth.

With more than 20 years of experience in the automotive industry, Peter has worked in a wide variety of roles including product development and aftersales engineering at Mercedes Benz and more recently as Global Vehicle Line Executive at General Motors.

"Jaguar and Land Rover have an incredibly exciting future that I am very pleased to be a part of. Quality and safety are absolute priorities and my task is to take the standard even higher," commented Mertens.

Following an apprenticeship as a toolmaker Mertens completed a Masters in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the United States. He later went on to complete his doctorate in Production Engineering and Industrial Engineering at the University of Kaiserslautern.

He is 49 years old and married with three children.

2010-10-06T18:42:52-04:00October 7, 2010|
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Range Rover Evoque–Live Reveal brings back Land Rover badge & a little more

So Land Rover just officially revealed the 2-door Range Rover Evoque at the Paris Auto Show.  It was short and sweet and didn’t reveal too much new info.  But there were two interesting things.

First, they did not show the 5-door model and said it wouldn’t be shown until later this year.  For those who can’t wait, here’s a video of it showing off on the Nürburgring:

 

And a picture of a dealer preview via Autoblog:

rangeroverevoquepspy

Second & actually more surprising, the vehicle they showed actually did have a Land Rover badge on the right-hand side of the rear tailgate.  So maybe they aren’t going to forget the brand.  I would have put up a screenshot but they still haven’t put up the replay of the video.  Here’s a shot posted by Stuart Schorr, Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs, Jaguar Land Rover North America:

ss-rre-lrbadge

Funny thing is, not even a real Range Rover has a rear badge anymore…

You can watch a replay of the reveal here:

http://www.helloevoque.com/blog/watch-the-live-reveal/

And Phil Popham did say it would start at £35,000 – I can’t remember if that was new info or not?

2010-09-30T03:24:18-04:00September 30, 2010|
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Range Rover Evoque–PR Analysis–”(Sports) Command Driving Position”

So these will be the first of comments on the info Land Rover has now given us through the official press release.

From the official Land Rover Glossary – Command Driving Position:

The Land Rover command driving position stems from a number of key dimensional relationships which combine to give the driver a feeling of being in command of the vehicle.
A low relative waistline, slim pillars, visible bonnet edge and large glass area promote excellent visibility and an awareness of the vehicle’s surroundings. The high, upright seating position and upright steering wheel add further to the feeling of confidence common to driving all Land Rover models.

2011_Range_Rover_Evoque_Interior_1.sized

So in this first full shot of the interior we can see how high that door window is, I guess we knew this somewhat with how small the exterior windows were.  But as soon as I saw that I went looking for the classic Land Rover phrase “Command Driving Position”  and it right there in the first few pages.  But really, I’m sure it’s great, but this isn’t Command Driving Position – the headrest is practically below window height.  And I do realize this is a small vehicle, so the actual size & feel probably doesn’t come across in the picture.  Continuing down the press release, we get to this section, which doesn’t seem quite right:

The vehicle package successfully provides a unique blend of coupe styling and capable off-road geometry and ground clearance. The interior offers excellent accommodation for passengers and luggage, while retaining the core elements of the classic Range Rover Command Driving Position.

Which core elements are those – a seat that someone sits in while they drive?

Further down they take a step back and really explain the situation as “Sports Command Driving Position”:

Sitting slightly lower than in one of the larger Range Rover models, the driver adopts a Sports Command Driving Position, which offers a more sporting feel but retains the important sensation of control and command. The result is more generous headroom than traditionally found in many sporting sedans, despite the low profile coupe roofline.

I just feel they’re trying to force their “design language” into every situation whether or not it’s applicable.  They should have used the “Sports” moniker for every time they used the phrase.  I may not be happy with them calling this a Range Rover, but they could have gotten away with it with the obvious stuff  – floating roof, wheels to the corners, clamshell hood – they don’t need to start making things up to make it fit into the line better.

Looks cool though!

2010-09-21T20:16:47-04:00September 21, 2010|
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