The new Range Rover Evoque has won rave reviews and a raft of awards, including just being named Truck of the Year by a panel of 50 auto writers at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit as well as being named 2012 Sport Utility of the Year by Motor Trend magazine. That’s quite a coup for Tata Motors (TTM), the Indian parent company of both Land Rover and Jaguar.
The all-new model Evoque is a great-handling little SUV with a stylish interior, plenty of zip, and class-leading fuel economy. But the Evoque also faces stiff competition from some excellent but less expensive and more traditional rivals, notably the BMW (BMWA) X3 (whose sales more than quadrupled last year) and the Q5 compact SUV made by Volkswagen’s (VOW) Audi division.
What sets the Evoque apart is its hip appearance and multiple ways it can be personalized. Aimed at consumers who are younger and more tech savvy than the traditional Land Rover shopper, the Evoque looks the part. The exterior closely resembles Land Rover’s LRX concept vehicle, first shown at Detroit’s 2008 Auto Show, and repackages traditional Land Rover design elements—the clamshell hood, the “floating” roof, and the solid, Mini-Cooper-like wheels-at-the-corners-of-the-body stance—into a compact, urban vehicle that people tend either to love or to hate.
Either way, the Evoque turns heads wherever you drive it. Unusually, the new model is offered as either a four-door or a two-door coupe. The roofline tapers down toward the back of the vehicle (more dramatically in the coupe than in the four-door) and is available in three colours that contrast with the 12 available body colours. You can choose among five different alloy wheels. The interior is offered in 12 distinct packages, available with stitched leather upholstery and wood or metal trim.
Another of the Evoque’s appeals is fuel economy. That results partly from extensive use of lightweight materials, such as an aluminium hood and roof panels and composite and polymer front fenders and tailgate. At 3,902 pounds, the Evoque is the lightest Range Rover yet. Under the hood is a highly efficient turbocharged 2.0-litre, 240-horsepower, four-cylinder engine coupled with a six-speed automatic transmission. It’s essentially a Ford EcoBoost engine adapted to a Range Rover, which is a good thing, because EcoBoost engines not only are peppy but also use direct-fuel injection to improve mileage.
As a result, the Evoque is rated to get 18 miles per gallon in the city and an impressive 28 on the highway, for an average of 22.
Land Rover says of its awrad win ning vehicle, “The 2012 Range Rover Evoque is the lightest and most fuel efficient Range Rover ever produced. The vehicle stays true to the core values of Range Rover, providing premium levels of craftsmanship, luxury, performance and Land Rover multi-terrain capability, while embodied in a more compact package. The Range Rover Evoque also sends a message that the company is serious about sustainability and determined to deliver vehicles that are both relevant and highly desirable.”