Range Rover Evoque to come to India at Rs.40-50 lakh

Tata Motors owned Land Rover will showcase their Range Rover Evoque SUV at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo. The enchanting vehicle will soon be available off the shelf and will make its way to India via the CBU (completely built unit) route.

The Evoque is strikingly good to look at and will likely be priced in the Rs. 40-50 lakh price band. The Evoque will compete with likes of the Audi Q7, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class SUV and Toyota Land Cruiser Prado all of which have drawn in a decent number of buyers in the country.

The Evoque (both the 3-door & 5-doored variants) will go on sale in the UK market this September and will cost $45,375-$71,925.

The Ranger Rover Evoque three door version was first unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September 2010 while the 5-door version made its debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November 2010. Also read: Range Rover Evoque India Launch likely in 2012

The difference between the 5-door and 3-door is that, the 5-door has a 30 mm higher roof and is 30 kg heavier than the 3-door variant.

The 5-door version however makes more sense in the Indian context owing to its spacious and practical nature. The Evoque is the newest SUV from Land Rover’s stables and was built with design cues from the LRX concept. The stylish looking Evoque also holds the title of being the lightest, smallest and most fuel efficient Range Rover ever built.

The Range Rover Evoque (both 3 door and 5 door) will come with two engine variants, a gorgeous 2.0 litre petrol engine that makes a healthy 237 bhp and a larger 2.2 litre diesel engine. The 2.2 litre diesel engine comes with further variants, one that produces 148 bhp and a meatier variant that produces 187 bhp of maximum power.

The Evoque will be available in both front wheel drive and all wheel drive variants (Yes there are options in everything!). The Evoque looks like a traditional large oil burner but surprisingly is environment friendly too as its Co2 emission levels are below 130 g/km (Quite impressive for a SUV of this size). Also read: Jaguar and Land Rover are Tata Motors golden eggs

As the demand for diesel premium SUVs is quite heartening, Land Rover may first introduce the front wheel drive diesel variant and later introduce the powerful petrol variant.

The Evoque is the first Range Rover to come with a selector that allows drivers to either choose the full-time four-wheel-drive system or just the front-wheel drive system. This will help the users save significant fuel when driving the Evoque in regular city traffic.

The Evoque has been built to take on both tarmac and the great outdoors with effortlessness. The company has ensured that the SUV is graceful for both day-to-day urban driving and dynamic driving experience out in highways.

As evident from the images, the Evoque has generous ground clearance and also boasts of a large departure angle which saves the SUV’s body from being damaged by obstacles.

The Evoque’s dashboard incorporates an easy-to-use control system and a touch-screen display. The central console boasts of dual-view technology, wherein the driver and passenger can view independent content. It also has Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, audio streaming capabilities, USB and auxiliary inputs.

Coming to in-car entertainment, the Evoque gets a mesmerizing Meridian sound system that comes with an 825W, 17-speaker system for an ultimate surround-sound performance. Whether this 17-speaker system is a standard or optional however, will be known only once the SUV is launched in India.

Buyers can choose additional features like Park Assist for automated parallel parking, a Blind Spot Monitoring system, DVD playback, rear seat entertainment along with a host of other features.

Land Rover models available in India, including the Freelander 2, lack the show value that buyers looks for, thus getting a lukewarm response. However, the Evoque will be a very important model and promises to take the Land Rover brand to new heights in India.