Land Rover Is Designing A Soft-Roader Called The Road Rover

Land Rover is doing something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago: building a car that isn’t designed to go off-road any more than any other car. It will start a new model line with a controversial new name, and the first will be all-electric.

Autocar is reporting that the new car, which will come in 2020 at the latest, will be badged as a ‘Road Rover’. We know exactly what’s coming in the comments, but it’s safe to say that this one will prod the fire beneath a bubbling cauldron of opinions. JLR has already got Jaguar to take care of the road car side of things. Surely the two brands are heading for a world of sales cannibalism hurt, particularly when the electric Jaguar i-Pace already exists?

Land Rover is apparently aiming the Road Rover at wealthy, luxury-hungry markets like China and California, and intends to build it with enough luxury and technology to rival the Mercedes S-Class, although Autocar’s renders see it more as an SUV than a saloon. But if it’s ultimately a luxury SUV, surely the Range Rover line-up already takes care of that?

The magazine says that the Road Rover will have ‘some all-terrain capability’, but then so does a Ferrari 288 GTO. We’ll reserve judgement on that front until we’ve got more information, but it would be a hell of a departure for a brand built on and defined by incredibly capable mud-pluggers.

Like Velar, the name Road Rover is not plucked at random. Back in the 1950s the name was considered for Rover models, with the idea being to form a link between the original Land Rover’s proud British military heritage and the road-going cars. Marketing nonsense for the win. As it happened, though, the idea was binned for a decade until an off-road three-door estate was designed: the first concept that would eventually turn into the original production Range Rover.

The project is one of JLR’s most secret, so don’t count on us getting any more data any time soon. But feel free to tell us what you think of the idea, at least.

Source: Autocar