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NEWS
SPY PICS: Range Rover goes long-wheelbase
Range Rover gets a stretch to enable it to cash in on the high-volume Chinese marketWe recently had our first look at the new all-alloy Range Rover, but waiting in the wings is a long-wheelbase derivative that will be pitched strongly at the burgeoning, back-seat-favouring Chinese market.
This test mule captured by the ever-vigilant Carparazzi lenses reveals a lengthened side rear door, providing proof that this variant will offer a lot more legroom for back-seat occupants... and there may even be an optional third row of seats.
It’s clear the long-wheelbase Rangie will be sold predominantly as a chauffeur car, eschewing off-roading duties (not that many examples actually venture off the beaten track) in favour of limo service. Aficionados of the brand may recall that the company offered a lengthened version of the first-gen Rangie in the early 1990s, known as the Vogue LSE in the UK and County LWB in the US).
It’s possible that one of these nameplates may be dusted off for the new model, which will compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GL and upcoming Bentley SUV that was previewed by the EXP 9 F concept.
The long-wheelbase flagship will also pave the way for Range Rover to forge further upmarket than the territory occupied by the existing model, an aim that it flagged during the recent media reveal of the fourth-generation L405 in the UK.
Apart from its lengthened wheelbase, the vehicle pictured alongside is believed to be as per its shorter sibling, featuring the same aluminium monocoque chassis and powertrain line-up. Having poked all around the vehicle and sat in the driver’s seat and the rear, motoring.com.au can vouch for the L405’s more opulent ambience vis-à-vis its predecessor, which the company will use to help justify a starting price of $168,900 when it arrives locally in January 2013.
Autobiography versions start at $232,800 for the TDV8 and $240,100 for the supercharged V8. This suggests the long-wheelbase flagship (if it were to be offered here) could weigh in around the $300k mark. Phew!
– with Carparazzi
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Written byGautam Sharma
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