Recently, the new generation of Range Rover was officially listed in China, priced at 146.8-249.8 million yuan, and everyone exclaimed: the new luxury SUV big brother is finally here!
In fact, for a long time, everyone liked to regard the Range Rover as the leader of luxury SUVs, and its market position was even second only to ultra-luxury models such as Cullinan and Bentayga, which can be said to be a king-like existence.
But how did range Rover ascend to this throne step by step?
Before learning about the new car, let's briefly review the growth process of this king SUV.
Friends familiar with Land Rover should know that the Land Rover brand originated from the British Rover (Rover) company launched the off-road vehicle in the late 1940s.
At a time of Britain's most difficult post-war period, when there was a shortage of supplies and the demand for passenger cars plummeted, Maurice Wilks, then chief designer of Rover Motors, proposed to produce off-road products similar to wartime American Willis military vehicles to serve the post-war reconstruction and production work.
The new car, eventually called "Land Rover", was successfully trial-produced in late 1947, and Land Rover's brand history officially began.
The Range Rover, on the other hand, is the "high-end upgrade version" launched by Land Rover.
Because after the introduction of the Land Rover off-road vehicle, although it became one of the most popular off-road vehicles in the United Kingdom with its simple structure and easy leather, but as Europe gradually recovered from the haze of World War II, this rough tool car was slowly marginalized, and Rover believed that the market needed a more comfortable four-wheel drive model.
However, Land Rover did not immediately find the right direction, and in the mid-to-late 1950s, while sales of the original Land Rover off-road vehicles continued to decline, they were also trying different new car development directions.
It wasn't until after the 1960s, after seeing the booming SUV market in North America, that Land Rover finally knew what it wanted. In 1966, Rover began to develop new cars, and finally built the first prototype in 1967.
The prototype eventually became the original Range Rover, which was officially born in 1970.
In this model's suspension system, Land Rover abandoned the blade springs with better load performance in favor of coil springs. This change was significant at the time, as it greatly improved the range Rover's ride comfort and was far ahead of its competitors who were still using leaf springs.
Coupled with the larger carriages, the original Range Rover truly became the envisioned new all-round drive that was comfortable and easy to use.
But the original Range Rover was still essentially an off-road-focused model, with the exception of those four coil springs, which really had nothing to do with luxury, and the interior was as rudimentary as a rough house.
But no matter how rough its interior is, the comfort advantage brought by the coil spring is really too big, it can climb mountains and wade, and it can easily run paved roads, successfully impressing many consumers.
However, Land Rover also slowly found in the feedback of users that these people who bought the Range Rover actually spent most of their time driving on the paved road, and the time for off-roading was really not much.
Especially after listening to the feedback of this group of car owners who usually drive on the paved road, Land Rover began to upgrade and optimize the Range Rover, this time adding an anti-tilt bar, upgrading the interior materials next time, and even adding air shock absorption.
Finally, in the 1980s, range rover was upgraded from a "comfortable off-road vehicle" to a "luxury off-road vehicle".
In 1994, when the second generation of Range Rover was officially launched, the car series had completely moved towards the development route of "luxury + off-road". Due to the impact of the booming SUV market in North America, the Range Rover at this time has officially shown a trend of departing from the traditional professional off-road image and changing to luxury SUVs.
The new interior design makes the Range Rover's cabin look more like a high-end sedan than a rugged off-road tool, and the more spacious and comfortable seats with rich entertainment configuration and even the new air suspension that can be adjusted soft and hard according to the road conditions make the second-generation Range Rover more upscale.
However, the original intention of off-road has not changed, it not only maintains a non-load-bearing body and four-wheel drive system, but also a square box body that has become a classic design element in the future, which can be said to have created an unprecedented combination of luxury enjoyment + professional off-road.
At the same time, the Range Rover also succeeded the original Land Rover SUV into the British royal family, becoming the main vehicle of the British royal family when it went out hunting.
Queen Elizabeth II was particularly fond of driving this model.
Although Britain is no longer the powerful "empire that never sets", in the eyes of many people, if a product can be related to the royal family, it is always more noble.
So the Range Rover series has dipped the light of the queen and become the top off-road car sought after by the rich around the world.
Later, the Range Rover developed into the third generation, and underwent a substantial upgrade in luxury equipment and internal materials, further moving closer to the top luxury car field.
In order to completely solve the comfort shortcomings brought by the girder chassis and non-independent suspension, this generation of Range Rover even uses a load-bearing body and fully independent suspension to make a qualitative leap in its road driving experience.
It was also from this generation that the Range Rover was officially introduced into the Chinese market, becoming the first top luxury SUV that many Chinese consumers were exposed to.
At this time, in the luxury SUV market, there are few models that can compete head-on with range rover. The most powerful opponents are mercedes-Benz ML Class (now GLE) and BMW X5. As a product that continues to be developed by itself after the interruption of the cooperation project with Mitsubishi, the Mercedes-Benz ML Class is a little bit worse at the luxury level.
The fledgling BMW X5 pays full attention to sporty performance, although the road driving experience is at the top level of the SUV industry, but it is really not a rival to the Range Rover at the off-road level. In the face of the Range Rover, which has long laid a solid market foundation and has advanced air suspension and the "Queen's Choice" halo, it really does not pose a fundamental threat.
Therefore, in the domestic market at that time, the Range Rover became the only SUV model that combined luxury image, luxury experience and top off-road performance.
The irreplaceable top status makes many rich people think first when considering buying AN SUV, or even only consider the Range Rover, and the Range Rover, which carries the boss back and forth between the city center and the construction site and the mine, has also become a status symbol, and its image height is like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, almost equal to "wealth".
Next, the Land Rover Range Rover continues to grow as the fourth-generation model reaches new peaks in design and technology, thus continuing to lead the luxury SUV market while growing in the BBA class.
And now that the new generation of Range Rover is coming, what new upgrades will it bring, and is it really as netizens said, it can continue to hold the throne of the king of luxury SUVs?
Regarding the detailed interpretation of the design and configuration of the new car, I believe you have seen a lot, and this time the professor will focus on some of the key analysis to see if the new generation of Range Rover can still suppress the same level of opponents.
To focus on upgrades, we must first mention the size.
Today's top luxury cars all need top-of-the-line sizes, so that they can bring a luxurious atmosphere through atmospheric design, put down more advanced equipment, provide richer configurations, and let users sit more comfortably.
As a result, the standard body length and wheelbase of the Range Rover version became 5052mm and 2997mm, an increase of 52mm and 77mm respectively compared with the current model; the length and wheelbase of the extended version of the model even reached 5252mm and 3197mm.
In fact, the size of the fourth-generation Range Rover extended version has reached the level of large SUVs, making its direct opponents upgrade from the past GLE and X5 to the top products in the current luxury market segment - Mercedes-Benz GLS and BMW X7.
Now, after further upgrading the size, the physical volume of the Range Rover has completely surpassed the Mercedes-Benz GLS and BMW X7, and the long-axle model has gone directly to the American full-size level. With the absolute advantage of space, customers who pursue the ultimate luxury can have a super spacious two-row space, and can get a surprising rear comfort configuration, a third row of seats with more normal use value, and even a small tail-wing fishing bench similar to Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
When it comes to the next design level, range rover may be inferior to its rivals.
The first is the appearance of the shape, as a flagship luxury SUV priced over a million, a model like the Range Rover must have a strong enough aura to show its superiority to others.
In this regard, the Range Rover has done a great job since the third generation.
The square box shape seems simple, but the shape built by the large plane is combined with the high ground clearance and rectangular metal grille, and the whole appearance will look like a castle.
This design concept is actually somewhat similar to a British super luxury brand like Rolls-Royce, so even if the fourth-generation Range Rover does not make drastic changes to the general outline of the appearance, it still looks domineering, and even the most controversial slender vertical LED taillights cannot shake its aura.
In contrast, the ordinary version of GLS is not even comparable to the Range Rover, but should rise to the level of Maybach GLS.
A sense of dignity is expressed through the two-tone bodywork and the large dense spoke wheels and shiny grille. However, compared with the bravado of the Maybach GLS, the sense of honor of the Range Rover will still be more restrained.
As for the BMW X7, it is the "least luxurious" model in this class; perhaps out of respect for the BMW brand image, the X7 will always have a bit of a sporty touch in the styling design.
The latest version of the redesigned split headlights have brought more controversy to the design level of this car series, I believe that in terms of luxury image, X7 performance will not be too advantageous.
However, when we look at the interior, the situation can take a huge turn.
The new generation of Range Rover adheres to its classic T-shaped design in the central control part, and the new steering wheel shape looks very avant-garde and elegant; the large area of white space in the central control part with high-grade leather coating can also bring a classic sense of simplicity and luxury.
However, the suspension central control touch screen can not be cleverly embedded in the central control design, making the screen appear somewhat abrupt in the carriage, so that the interior design sense has been discounted, and even makes people feel a little sloppy.
In contrast, the Mercedes-Benz GLS performed much better.
Regarding the production of this interior design professional, I believe that there is no need to introduce too much, after all, they push the dual LCD screen design to the forefront of the trend, and create a luxurious cabin environment through the yachting panel design and the cool atmosphere lamp.
If there are high requirements for the atmosphere of the carriage, then Mercedes-Benz is definitely the preferred option.
As for bmw X7, the new iDrive system has been proved to be very useful by iX, but this screen layout that is completely suspended above the center console is still complained about by many consumers. Bmw, however, managed to enhance the compartment layering with larger wood-grain trim panels and wrap-around silver trims.
All in all, perhaps the Range Rover can bring a more delicate and advanced touch under the blessing of Windsor leather and exquisite craftsmanship, but in terms of perception, the Range Rover is indeed slightly inferior.
But in terms of creating a rear atmosphere, Land Rover is indeed better at bringing a sense of connotation to people through just the right wooden decoration and elegant color scheme; although the impact is not strong in visual effects, whether it is a standard five-seater, seven-seater or the top four-seater model, most people will agree that this is the back row of a luxury SUV at the top level of the industry after the experience.
As for Mercedes-Benz's GLS series or BMW's X7, their atmosphere-building focus is mostly in the front row; rear passengers often need to rise to a model with independent rear seats like the Top Of the Maybach GLS, which often means more than two hundred or even three million.
In the end, we need to return to the price level.
The price of the new generation of Range Rover has increased significantly compared with the previous generation. The starting price of 1.468 million yuan is 243,000 yuan more expensive than the starting price of 122.50 of the previous 2022 model, which greatly increases the threshold for becoming a range Rover owner.
If you compare the Mercedes-Benz GLS and BMW X7, the price of a low-end standard version of the Range Rover is enough to afford the high-end models of these two models, but in terms of absolute size and appearance, these two "ordinary" models cannot show their advantages.
If you compare the Maybach GLS, the Range Rover will show a significant price-performance ratio in terms of mechanical performance, space and high-end configuration.
Therefore, the professor believes that the Range Rover is still a very competitive model, it has a long history of models, has a solid market foundation, and this replacement in the most critical aspects of temperament and volume, as well as representing the traditional mechanical performance of the car system, it maintains a consistently high standard.
Perhaps the existence of the Maybach GLS will put unprecedented pressure on the Range Rover, but the Range Rover still deserves to be called the king of luxury SUVs.