Range Rover Evoque SVR coming

Land Rover has had a change of heart, and will bring to market a hot-house version of the Range Rover Evoque after all.

Sister brand Jaguar is expected to be the next marque in line for a muscled-up tyre-shredding promotion from JLR's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) Division. But following the SVR Jag, the Range Rover Evoque is on the shortlist for some extra herbs, spices and a silver and red SVR badge.

The supercharged Range Rover Sport SVR, which is rated at a whopping 405kW of power and 680Nm of torque, is the first weapon developed by Jaguar Land Rover's custom hot shop, but the $218,500 V8 beast, which has been a sell-out success in Australia, will definitely be joined by other SVO-fettled Rovers.

That's the word from one of Land Rover's most senior executives, design director Gerry McGovern, who revealed that although the design work has already commenced on the next-generation Range Rover Evoque due in 2018 at the earliest, there's still a very strong heart beat in the current model.

"Evoque runs for another three years and I'm not saying no to anything because the whole reason for Special Vehicle Operations is to take all these different [vehicle] families and actually do special versions on all of them.

"That's the beauty of it."

McGovern confirmed his desire to see an Evoque SVR soon, and indeed more SVR models across the Land Rover product range – including the Defender – but he wouldn't be drawn on timing.

"We started with this [Range Rover Sport SVR] but it'll work right through the Range Rover range, and through Discoverys and eventually Defenders.

"SVO is not about offering better, it's about taking these vehicles and offering more choice. That can mean limited edition runs, to 150 units, down to one-off vehicles," he stated.

Asked if there was a growing market for bespoke luxury SUVS, and in particular Range Rovers, McGovern was forthright.

"Absolutely. Look at the way the world of luxury is going, not just cars. There is desire for more bespoke, unique products.

"Look at fashion, men's tailoring, the ultimate is bespoke. We're seeing fewer but more expensive. An Hermes bag can cost the price of a car for example. Research shows that people at that end of the market don't want more and more products, they want more refinement. They want it to be more exclusive."

Despite the company's evolving strategy to create customised, bespoke vehicles targeting the top end of town, such as the Range Rover SVAutobiography, Land Rover's outspoken design chief also argued that the key element of the SVR sub-brand will be performance. And it'll have to be as the likes of the Porsche and Mercedes-AMG amp up their performance SUV offerings.

"It's not just about luxury execution and cosmetics, it's about performance as well. The SVR has to have more power than the standard vehicle."

So when can we expect a boosted 300kW Range Rover Evoque to rival the 294kW Porsche MacanTurbo? McGovern won't say, but stay tuned.