Tata-owned JLR launches new luxury SUV 'Baby' Range Rover Evoque

London: Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has unveiled a new compact luxury SUV, designed, engineered and manufactured in Britain, as a sign of its commitment to the UK car industry. The new Range Rover Evoque, dubbed a "baby" Range Rover, which had its world debut in London on Thursday comes with a one-billion-pound investment to support its production. The new model, described as a technology revolution by JLR, is priced from around USD 41,000 and will hit the roads next year.

"Our commitment to UK production remains firm and the new Evoque benefits from a one-billion-pound investment. With this, we are introducing new technology and Range Rover refinement into the luxury compact SUV segment that the original model created," said JLR CEO Ralf Speth.

"The Range Rover Evoque has been a fundamental driver in Jaguar Land Rover's global success. Since it first rolled off the Halewood production line, we have exported 80 per cent of all we have made," he said.

Order books for the new Range Rover Evoque opened this week, with first deliveries to customers in the UK, Europe and the US beginning in the first months of 2019.

Over 4 billion pounds worth of contracts have been placed with UK companies to support production of the new Evoque, which JLR said was a testament to its continued confidence in the competitiveness of UK suppliers.

The company's one-billion-pound investment in the new Evoque covers research, development, design, advanced technology engineering and manufacturing.

The company said the new Evoque joins the Range Rover family with a choice of petrol, diesel and hybrid electric engines, enabled by an all-new Premium Transverse Architecture.

From 2020, every new Jaguar and Land Rover will have the option of electrification and, in a first for the compact luxury SUV segment, the Range Rover Evoque will be electrified with a 48-volt mild hybrid system from launch. It will also be available with a line-up of efficient four-cylinder diesel and petrol engines and, 12 months later, a three-cylinder plug-in hybrid engine.

The new #RangeRover #Evoque makes its debut, turning heads with its modernist design and bringing accessible luxury to the city and beyond. Find out more: https://t.co/Zxc9K2bqcT #HelloEvoque #LivefortheCity pic.twitter.com/pckzFZhYKU

— Land Rover (@LandRover) November 23, 2018

"The new model's compact footprint, at just 4.37-metres-long, will make the new Range Rover Evoque the go-to luxury city SUV," JLR said. "An entirely new architecture delivers Range Rover refinement, with agile on-road handling and world class off-road capability," it added.

The original Evoque is celebrated as JLR's greatest sales success story. With over 217 international accolades since it was launched, it is also the most awarded Land Rover.

With its resulting new body style, vehicle architecture, emissions reduction technologies including hybrid-electric, and design features such as deploying door handles, the latest Range Rover is a sophisticated evolution of the original, the Tata Group company said.

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"Enhancements to develop state-of-the-art flexible manufacturing for the new Evoque at Halewood, Merseyside, comprise a new stamping line and hybrid-electric assembly technology, alongside significant extensions and upgrades to existing facilities. Production overseas will meet local market demand for the latest addition to the Range Rover line-up," JLR said.

The new Evoque launches with innovations such as ClearSight Ground View and ClearSight Rear View.