AIMS: Spring 2011 debut for Evoque

Buyers of Range Rover's new Evoque premium compact SUV will have to wait until Spring 2011 before the vehicle arrives Down Under. But they'll have a choice of three and five door styles, front and all-wheel drive and a variety of powertrain and trim grades from which to choose when it finally arrives.

Debuted at the Paris show earlier this month, the new baby Rangie will be positioned above Land Rover's existing compact SUV entrant, the Freelander II. The stunning three-door Cross-Coupe variant of the Evoque will be positioned as a halo model for the nameplate, but five-door versions are all expected to be big sellers.

As outlined in Paris, three trim grades will be offered across the Evoque line-up – we can now confirm that all three will come to Oz. Dubbed Pure, Dynamic and Prestige, the versions will give customers a degree of customization and personalization, though cautioned Jaguar Land Rover Australia personnel, not the myriad options MINI offers for its Cooper line-up per se.

Petrol and diesel powertrains will be available. Jaguar Land Rover Australia (JLRA) has also confirmed the controversial front-wheel drive version will also come Down Under. That said both local sources and Land Rover Managing Director Phil Popham – in Australia for the Evoque's launch -- believe the majority of Evoque's sold outside of Europe will remain all-wheel drive.

"We won't exclude front-wheel drive versions from markets [like Australia] but we expect the volume of front-wheel drive models to be relatively small," Popham told the Carsales Network.

"[Front-wheel drive SUVs] it's a huge emerging segment in Europe and that's where the focus of the model is... I don't think there's a market for a front-wheel drive Evoque in the USA... The focus in markets like Australia will be all-wheel drive... But I could be wrong," Popham opined.

Remarkably true to the LRX showcar, the Evoque has been heralded as a "gamechanger" for the brand. Not only a design breakthrough, Popham says it will be the world's most fuel efficient SUV when it goes on sale in Europe next July.

Global Land Rover marketing boss, Colin Green says the vehicle is as important for the future of the marque as the Range Rover Sport. He says the company expects up to 90 per cent of Evoque sales to be conquests – buyers returning to Land Rover or purchasing a car from the marque for the first time.

Local JLR boss David Blackhall believes the vehicle has huge local potential – not only in its own right but in the opportunity it creates for the marque to re-position its Freelander II range to take on the likes of top-end Mazda and Honda SUVs as well as Volkswagen Tiguan.

"Right now we've had to stretch Freelander to here [a higher level of price/equipment]. We will position Evoque above the Freelander – it's a Range Rover. There'll be some overlap but we don't want them right on top of each other," Blackhall told the Carsales Network.

"We are still working out the details [of pricing and specification of both ranges, but] people are paying a lot of money for top-spec Japanese SUVs, there's no reason at all that we can't deliver them a Freelander option. [Buyers of] Top-end CR-Vs, Tiguan are exactly what we're after with Freelander."

Blackhall says JLRA re-positioning of Freelander will coincide with the MY11 models arrival with new powertrains and more in January 2011.

Jaguar Land Rover debuted Evoque at a private function hosted by fashionistas Sass & Bide in Darling Harbour in the lead up to the Australian International Motor Show. Described by Blackhall as "early adopters" the invitees were deliberately a younger crowd than are traditionally exposed to Land Rover product.

A significant part of JLRA's Evoque marketing strategy will be to take the vehicle to the people say insiders.

"Buyers of this car are not consumers of traditional media," one JLR Australia staffer told the Carsales Network.

"Online, Facebook and so on, plus direct contact and experiential marketing will be massively important with this car."

For our full coverage of the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney visit our minisite at Carsales.com.au/aims.

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