It’s arrived. The brand-new generation of Land Rover’s flagship model: Range Rover. Lighter, faster, more economical and now available with seven seats for the first time, the highly anticipated fifth-generation model has taken the world-leading SUV to another level, thanks to its all-conquering capability, honed by over half a century of manufacturing excellence. On top of that, it boasts extraordinary sustainability credentials.
Designed, engineered and built in the UK, the new model has been styled by design guru Gerry McGovern. The result is a picture of breath-taking modernity with a sleek and uncluttered design. With an incredible off-road ability and on road agility, it’s just as at home in town or scaling a mountain. All-wheel steering adds to the manoeuvrability while next generation air suspensions takes the rough and the effort out of off-road driving. A new twin-turbo petrol model will be the flagship of the range, providing sensational performance and the raucous rumble of a V8 engine.
Furthermore, Land Rover has gone all out to make sure the car is as sustainable as possible. The new car offers mild and plug-in hybrid options; the latter allows for 74 per cent of journeys to be driven on emissions-free electric drive alone, allowing the flexibility of extended range with the petrol engine. Interiors are furnished with a planet-friendly material called Kvadrat, a remixed wool blend fabric. Then there are the Econyl yarns, produced using 40 per cent recycled industrial plastic, fabric off-cuts and reclaimed ocean plastics. Even the paint options have been created to minimise their environmental impact. All pave the way for the pure-electric Range Rover to join the line-up in 2024.
Amy Frascella, Director of Colour and Materials for Jaguar Land Rover, explains the vision: ‘The New Range Rover is the pinnacle of Land Rover Design’s Materiality strategy, which is to redefine luxury materials within the automotive industry. Materiality is our uncompromised vision of innovation in materials, processes, and technologies that promote social, environmental and economical values, and in line with changing customer values, we have developed curated interior options for the new Range Rover that are more sustainable, more responsible and more progressive.’
The cabin inside is pure Range Rover. It’s a super serene drive with improved technology and a more modern design – think clean, elegant and an uncluttered dashboard with a panoramic driving position. There are hot massaging seats to boot. In the rear, it’s first-class travel all the way, especially in the four-seat version that treats passengers to aircraft-style luxury armchairs. The seven-seater hits all the right notes, too, even comfortable for those up to six foot.
This all plays a part in Land Rover’s aim to reduce the cognitive load thanks to the noise cancelling headrests, lack of endless buttons and the haptic touchscreen that allows users to feel what they see on screen. This means that you arrive at your destination feeling refreshed. A seamlessly integrated Alexa is on hand to help organise your music, navigation, traffic updates and smart home devices in one fell swoop. Just one more reason why Range Rover deserves to be heralded as one of the most legendary SUVs ever built.
