Range Rover SV Coupe killed off before launch

Land Rover has cancelled plans to launch its flagship $500,000 Range Rover SV Coupe - a model originally set to rival SUVs like the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

The decision to cull the luxury two-door 'coupe' was taken by Land Rover in the wake of mass job cuts by the British car-maker. Instead, resources will reportedly be diverted into developing the next-gen Discovery Sport and Defender models.

Confirming the SV Coupe project was dead, Land Rover issued a statement that read: "We have taken the difficult decision to inform our customers that the Range Rover SV Coupe will not proceed into production. Instead, Land Rover is focusing its resources and investment on the next generation of world-class products.

“With exciting plans for electrification, enhanced craftsmanship, innovation and technology, we are working to ensure that we continue to offer our customers a choice of world leading SUVs.”

Unveiled at the 2018 Geneva motor show, the Range Rover SV Coupe was claimed to pay tribute to the 1970 two-door original.

Despite sharing a close resemblance to the regular five-door SUV at Geneva, even to Land Rover's eye, the car-maker said that not a single body panel of the Range Rover SV Coupe was familiar with the regular car.

Adding yet more cost, the SV Coupe featured huge frameless doors and expensive components like metallic side strakes milled from a single piece of metal.

It even rode on bespoke 23-inch alloy wheels.

Inside, despite being more difficult for passengers to clamber in to reach those rear seats thanks to an identical wheelbase, there was plenty of room to stretch out in.

The final nail in the coffin for the bean counters was the SV Coupe was mostly hand-built on a different dedicated production line.

Under the bonnet, it shared the same 416kW/700Nm supercharged 5.0-litre V8 as standard car, which was one concession. And thanks to a weight-saving over the normal Range Rover, the SV Coupe could hit 100km/h in just 5.3 seconds and top out at 266km/h -- a record for the car-maker's full-size SUV.

Originally, Land Rover said it would make just 999 SV Coupes with a small unconfirmed number destined to land in Australia, with each priced at around $500,000.