Land Rover is set to emulate BMW’s niche-oriented lead with the introduction of a new sloped-roof SUV tipped to be called a Range Rover Sport Coupe.
Land Rover already has the Range Rover Evoque Coupe in its lineup, but confirmed by our latest spy shots the British automaker plans to add a second of the coupe-like SUVs.
Code-named L560, the vehicle looks to be even more on-road oriented than the already decidedly urban Range Rover Sport.
Although the look is not far off of the more conventional Range Rover Sport, we can see that the roof sits much lower. This would certainly eliminate the chance of third-row seats as is available as an option on the Sport.
2018 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Coupe spy shots – Image via S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
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Underpinning the vehicle is thought to be the aluminum-intensive platform of the Jaguar F-Pace, although the new Land Rover is slightly longer than its Jaguar counterpart. The larger size is necessary as the vehicle is designed to bridge the wide gap between the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport in Land Rover’s luxury-oriented lineup.
According to our photographer, the engineers were benchmarking the vehicle with a BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe.
In the powertrain department, we could see a 4-cylinder option on offer though a 6-cylinder, possibly a new inline unit, will likely be the standard option here in the United States. There’s also talk of the vehicle eventually offering an electric option using a powertrain Jaguar Land Rover is developing for a future Jaguar electric SUV based either on the F-Pace or an upcoming smaller high-riding model. An electric motor may be a necessity for Land Rover to comply with strict emissions rules coming into force.
We should know more soon as the so-called Range Rover Sport Coupe is expected to debut as early as next year, which would likely make it a 2018 model. Stay tuned for updates as development continues.
