Range Rover readying BMW X6 rival

Range Rover’s fourth model line will be a radical SUV coupe to rival the BMW X6, according to British publication Autocar.

On sale as soon as next year, the all-new 'Range Rover Sport Coupe' will slot between the Evoque and Range Rover Sport -- the "white space" that Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern told us existed back in April 2015.

Land Rover is claimed to be so intent on out-driving its German opposition, that the radical Range Rover sports car will be based on the aluminium chassis that underpins the Jaguar F-TYPE coupe and roadster.

The same stretched version of the sporty F-TYPE platform is also for Jaguar's the new F-PACE SUV, although it’s not known how much Jaguar;sa first SUV shares with the Range Rover.

Autocar claims the Rangie Sport Coupe (codenamed L560 internally) could also come with lightweight aluminium body panels, helping make it the lightest and fastest SUV to ever be badged a Range Rover.

Measuring in at around 4.7 metres long, the new RR Sport Coupe will be shorter than the BMW X6 and sit in the British car-maker’s line-up between the current 4.4m Evoque and 4.85m Range Rover Sport.

According to insiders speaking to Autocar, the biggest challenge with the new SUV coupe is the platform cannot accommodate three rows of seating.

Instead the Range Rover Sport Coupe is expected to offer just four seats with the option of an occasional third middle seat in the second row.

When it goes on sale some time in 2017 it’s thought the SUV coupe could share the Jaguar F-PACE’s four and six-cylinder petrol and diesels and even come as a pure-electric powertrain.

Another option that could be offered is a version of the 423kW/700Nm supercharged 5.0-litre V8 that’s used in the new F-TYPE SVR. If given the green light for production to the super SUV, the fastest-ever Range Rover could hit 100km/h in around four seconds and have a top speed as high as 300km/h.