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The Range Rover Evoque, renowned for off-roaders and more recently stylish SUVs, will rip the silken sheets from a Range Rover Evoque Convertible Concept at next month's Geneva motor show - testing the water for a premium convertible SUV.
The Indian-owned British brand - which claims a world first but Nissan has done an open-topped Murano concept - says the concept is being shown to gauge reaction and to "assess the potential for what could be another white space product from the world's leading SUV brand," although officially there are no confirmed production plans.
Land Rover Global Brand Director John Edwards said the Convertible Concept is a new twist to the Evoque story. "We are excited to see the response to this concept as we assess the potential for building on the Evoque's exceptional success so far," he says.
The four-seater Evoque concept uses a traditional soft-top roof, with a Roll Over Protection System and a drop down tailgate. Claimed to be full of Land Rover DNA, the company says the open-topped machine retains the brand's all-terrain capability with minimal changes to weight and torsional rigidity.
The Terrain Response off-road system, 21-inch alloys and a Meridian sound system are among the concept car's features. Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern says the Evoque lends itself to the idea of a convertible.
"This study is not a traditional convertible design execution - instead we have worked with the balance of the Evoque's lines to retain its distinctive shape and create something that is unique and, we believe, highly desirable," he says.
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