It's official: Land Rover has created a new niche, and a booming one at that. It's no small compliment when car making's big boys start dancing to your tune, and at this year's Frankfurt motor show, Land Rover enjoyed that spectacle with the unstoppable rise of the style-led SUV.
Smothering the practicality, elevation and verge-nibbling talents of an SUV with designer togs seems like a simple enough concept, but it was Land Rover that got it done. The Range Rover Evoque is doing what the Renault Espace did decades earlier by blazing a trail for others to follow - that's why the phrase 'Evoque-rivalling' has been applied to myriad production cars, concepts and product plans across Frankfurt's halls this year.
Closest in size to the Evoque and potentially its closest rival is the Mercedes-Benz GLA that's due on sale in December. It's the clear leader in the race to be second, as it's the only one you'll be able to buy any time soon.
BMW's X4 is in testing, but I reckon it lacks the visual bite to take a chunk from the Evoque (which is the same reason the VW Tiguan and Audi Q3 aren't at the races either in my book). The Porsche Macan is also currently being put through its pre-production paces; it mightn't sport the most adventurous design, but a Porsche has to look like a Porsche.
Premium-brand concepts hoping to yield a competitor are Jaguar's C-X17 (which has the advantage of JLR inside information) and Lexus's Klingon commuter, the LF-NX (yes, they're saying the production car really could look that wild).
Both are 300-400mm longer than the Evoque, but proportion lends them the same stance. Chinese manufacturer Chang'an showed the CS95, which is a full metre longer than the Evoque, but the intended visual connections are obvious there, too.
Volvo would be also on the case with an XC40 if it had a suitable platform - certainly its Concept Coupé demonstrated the company's design direction is cued up for such a car - and Skoda design boss Josef Kaban says the company's future SUVs, both compact and full-size, will look "more provocative" than its other cars.
Management flapdoodle says 'the leading edge is the bleeding edge', but the flip side is that innovators can also end up being both original and best. And in this new niche where aesthetics are law, I haven't seen anything to challenge the baby Rangie yet.
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Designed for the world
No such thing as a car for all ,I personaly love the Evoque yes it has a small rear window but not as small as a golf cabriolet that my wife has , which is no problem whatsoever the Evoque rear window could be regarded as massive compared to a Ferrari or Lambo, but that is not the point ,It is designed as a sporty styled off road capable vehicle end of story, it is not a Defender ,Disco or estate car ,in it,s segment it is great in my opinion ,there are mugs in my opinion, going for a crap X3 , Ugly Merc CLS and Allegro styled Q3 and Q5 so thats it at least the Evoque turns heads unlike the competition , and will result in lower depreciation figures and a more aesthetically pleasing car.
It's blogs like this which
It's blogs like this which fuel those who say Autocar has a JLR bias.
The Evoque is the first small Range Rover, but it is no way 'niche-busting'. Audi Q5, BMW X3, Volvo XC60, etc. were all there before JLR as others have pointed out.
You might as well say that
You might as well say that the new Range Rover's "niche-busting". Like the Evoque, it does nothing new, but because it's a Range Rover, Autocar must hype it up and pretend it's something it's not.
The Evoque is basically an ugly Mondeo with optional 4WD designed for the tasteless.
Ray 60
You might think the Evoque is tasteless but there's over 200,000 people who have bought the car and will disagree with you. And the car is not based on the Ford Mondeo.
It has also won many awards.