EMBARGO: 20:30 hrs, July 1st , 2010

All-new Range Rover EVOQUE makes guest appearance at 40 year celebration of the Brand

• First image of all-new compact Range Rover released
• Officially named Range Rover Evoque
• 1,000 new jobs created at award winning manufacturing plant Halewood, Liverpool
• Global car to be sold in over 160 countries
• Design stays true to LRX concept car
• Smallest, lightest, most fuel efficient Range Rover ever
• Available in both 4WD and 2WD and sub 130g of CO₂
• Official public debut at Paris Motor Show: 30 September
• On sale summer 2011

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MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT 1ST JULY 2010

So tomorrow at 3:30PM EST, we’ll get the first real information on the new compact Range Rover.  Maybe we’ll get lucky and the surprise is that they’re calling it the Freelander 4 or LR2 Plus – this whole 2WD Range Rover thing really bothers me.

I am most looking forward to see what they’ve done with the interior.  And as I’ve written before, I really do believe that what we’ll see will give us cues on what the next proper Range Rover may look like.

You can watch it live here.

I was sorry to hear about the death of Charles Spencer “Spen” King, he really was the father of the Range Rover and I’m not sure what we’d have today if it wasn’t for his insight & vision.

http://thestar.blogs.com/kenzie/2010/06/charles-spencer-spen-king-1925-2010-.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/business/04king.html?_r=1&src=busln

Here’s his namesake model, the Range Rover CSK – one of the coolest specials ever done, a very late model 2-door with all the bells & whistles.

From what I hear, these are the changes we’ll be seeing for the 2011 Range Rover U.S. spec model:

• New exterior choices of Fuji White (replaces Alaska White) and Baltic Blue (replaces Buckingham Blue)
• Tow Bar, Adaptive Lighting, Automatic High Beam Assist and Blind Spot Monitoring are all available as an options now and not a standard features
• Added a Vision Assist Package which includes Adaptive Front Lights, Automatic High Beam Assist, Blind Spot Monitoring and Surround Camera onto all trim levels

Changes on the 2011 Autobiography are:

• 1200 watt harman kardon LOGIC7 6 disc changer with 19 speakers is now standard
• Unique 20" silver sparkle alloy wheel
• Rear Seat Recline including 4-way lumbar support and heated/cooled rear seats is standard
• Vision Assist Package is standard

I’m happy to see the added content for the Autobiography, I just wonder how it will effect the current ~$15,000 option price.