Revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this year, Jaguar’s C-X17 crossover concept introduced the brand’s new aluminum architecture that will underpin many future Jaguars, beginning with the new sedan due in 2015 that will rival the BMW 3-Series.
While the fate of the C-X17 is not clear yet, it looks like the aluminum platform is very attractive to Jaguar’s sister brand Land Rover. The off-road vehicle specialist may use the architecture to build a new model for the Range Rover lineup.
According to a report from Automotive News Europe, which quotes a source familiar with the plan, the new Range Rover would be positioned between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport.
Analysts say the new Range Rover, code-named L560, will make the platform profitable. “This will have higher pricing, higher volumes and higher contribution margins than any of the Jaguar variants,” Max Warburton from Bernstein Research wrote in a recent report on Jaguar Land Rover. “We believe JLR product planners expect the L560 to sell up to 80,000 units, making it the most profitable variant by far,” he added.
Jaguar Land Rover is investing £1.5 billion (€1.79 billion) to develop the new platform, which analysts say will underpin a production version of the C-X17 crossover as well. For Land Rover, the lightweight platform will bring significant benefits in terms of dynamics, fuel-efficiency and emissions. The report also says the source described the styling of the new Range Rover as “car-like on steroids.”
The L560 is expected to have a similar price to the Land Rover Discovery large SUV.
By Dan Mihalascu
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