Land Rover says Range Rover branding is "in flux right now"
The Range Rover Evoque will be priced somewhere around $45,000. That would be about $8,500 more expensive than a Land Rover LR2 and about $3,500 less expensive than an LR4. But the Evoque's full name is technically the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque and it wears a Land Rover badge on its rear valance - whereas brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan don't put their badges on their respective luxury lines. With this initial overlap in price, and Range Rover possibly going even lower with a sub-Evoque Mini rival, we asked Land Rover if it was working to get any more separation with its Range Rover brand.
"Dealers will add Range Rover branding to their towers," said Skip Pavlik, Land Rover product manager, referring to the signage outside dealerships that will indicate three brands now - Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover, instead of just Jaguar and Land Rover. Pavlick also said that "the issue is in flux right now."
"Land Rover is more utilitarian, Range Rover is the top end of luxury," said Wayne Kung, Jaguar-Land Rover's manager of national product communications. "You don't lose any capability with the Range Rover, but the Evoque especially is about unabashed on-road and urban driving."
It was Pavlik who pointed out that "the Evoque started off as a Land Rover concept, the LRX, and it still has a Land Rover badge." When we asked if that badge would be there in three years, neither Pavlik nor Kung could say. The price issue, however - Range Rovers that are inexpensive, by comparison, to Land Rovers - isn't seen as posing any problems for the Land Rover line. "Price is secondary," said Pavlik. Added Kung, "They're different customers."
Though Ford may be able to get away with it by being Ford.
