Land Rover is ramping up its aggressive product proliferation strategy, the British maker set to reveal an all-new coupe-like SUV at the upcoming Geneva Motors Show.
Set to slot in-between the top-line Range Rover and more mainstream Evoque models, the new Range Rover Velar will become the fourth model in Land Rover’s premium line-up. The maker is offering a first teaser image but only a handful of details. It promises to reveal more on March 1st, with the Velar itself set to make its American debut at the New York International Auto Show in April.
“We call the Velar the avant-garde Range Rover,” Land Rover Chief Design Officer Gerry McGovern said in a statement accompanying this teaser image. “It brings a new dimension of glamor modernity and elegance to the brand. The Range Rover Velar changes everything.”
This is actually not the first Range Rover Velar. The name was originally used for a series of 1969 concept vehicles. The name itself comes from the Latin word, “velare,” according to Land Rover, which notes that it means “to veil or cover.” That’s probably a nicer-sounding name than “revalabis,” the Latin word meaning “uncover.”
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The most notable feature of the Range Rover Velar, at least from this teaser image, is the nearly all-glass roof. That transparent top also reveals that the coupe-like SUV features an extremely large video display screen atop the center console.
Fans might also notice that the taillights of the new Velar adopt at horizontal layout, rather than the vertical orientation found on the current flagship Range Rover model.
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For the moment, Land Rover isn’t saying much about the new model, but industry sources offer some hints as to what’s coming. For one thing, the Velar will be slotted in-between the current base Range Rover Evoque and the mid-line Range Rover Sport. It will target the likes of the BMW X6 and other new, coupe-like utes.
There have been some rumors floating around that the British maker might be ready to deliver a less capable model, one that foregoes the brand’s traditional, go-anywhere heritage. That doesn’t appear to be the case, at least not with the Velar, the teaser statement suggesting that the new model will be, “Refined for every occasion and for various terrains, the Range Rover Velar uses unique sustainable materials and advanced engineering to continue Land Rover’s drive to go Above and Beyond.”
As to powertrain options, it’s expected that the new Range Rover Velar will borrow from both the Evoque and the Sport, which would likely mean turbocharged four- and six-cylinder gas and diesel options, and perhaps ever a high-performance V-8. A plug-in hybrid is also expected to be offered at some point.
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Land Rover, on the whole, has been rapidly expanding its line-up as it pushes for global growth. It launched the Discovery Sport model in 2015 and the bigger Discovery last year. It is also in the process of working up a remake of its classic Defender model that is expected to appear in 2018.
