Renault Arkana vs Range Rover Evoque

What's the difference?

Renault’s Arkana coupe-style compact SUV has been hit with its first makeover, which ushers in a range of styling changes, increased equipment and new model grade names.

There are few cars like it in the compact SUV segment, where vehicles usually favour the boxier, traditional SUV wagon shape over the stylish but often internal space compromised coupe SUVs.

Renault Australia is only expecting about one per cent share of the segment or around 1500 sales a year.

But if you want to stand out from the crowd of Mazda CX-30, Mitsubishi ASX and Toyota Corolla Cross small SUVs then the Arkana might be for you.

Range Rover has developed a bit of an image problem in the last few years.

To many the brand is still the face of a quintessentially British aspirational luxurious off-roader. But to a growing group, it has become synonymous with the concept of an environmentally reckless fuel-guzzling SUV.

They’re big, heavy, and still feature V8 engines, but Range Rover knows all too well the writing is on the wall for its increasingly infamous range of combustion vehicles.

The trouble is, customers love them, and while the I-Pace from sister brand Jaguar is a big leap into the future, there needs to be a happy medium for easing some of its existing customers away from combustion, while still offering the kinds of excess and aspirational performance the Range Rover brand is associated with.

Enter this car, the Evoque HSE P300e. It’s a plug-in hybrid, notably only available in the top trim level, with top-shelf performance, too.

Is it the right car to represent Range Rover’s entry-level model at a critical time of technological transformation? Let’s take a look.