Range Rover Will (Thankfully) Remain the Fanciest Land Rover
In a world of SUVs from Bentley, Lamborghini, and soon Ferrari, the Range Rover will rule the Land Rover roost.
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about crossovers and SUVs moving further and further upmarket into an upper automotive echelon. High-end brands like Bentley and Maserati already have SUVs available for sale, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, and Ferrari all have an SUV in the works, and just this morning, Lamborghini unveiled the Urus calling it the first “super” SUV.
However, one of the brands that pioneered the very idea of the luxury SUV will be sitting out of the ultra-premium SUV race. Land Rover has no intention of adding new products slotted above the flagship Range Rover where it will remain at the top of the Land Rover food chain.
"It would strategically be the wrong thing," Jaguar Land Rover North America CEO Joe Eberhardt told Automotive News. “[The Range Rover] defines the Land Rover brand and the Range Rover family; It is really the epitome of that line, and to dethrone that would not be the right move."
In other words, the Range Rover is too iconic to not be the most luxurious, most aspirational SUV in Land Rover’s lineup. It’s earned its place by combining genuine luxury with genuine off-road capability in a way few other brands have achieved.
That’s not to say Range Rovers won’t get fancier and more expensive. At the L.A. Auto Show, Land Rover just unveiled the 2019 Range Rover SVAutobiography, the first Range Rover to cross the $200,000 mark thanks to amenities like a stretched wheelbase, 10 touchscreens, a refrigerator between the back seats, and power-closing rear doors.
The real concern is that putting a new product above the Range Rover would cheapen the Range Rover name. The Range Rover has come too far to not be the best and SUV shoppers everywhere aspire to one day own the legendary SUV. To make it a mid-range model just wouldn’t be right.
