All-Weather SUV

Land Rover has unveiled the world’s first luxury compact SUV convertible. Range Rover Evoque Convertible combines the bold design and refinement of Evoque with comprehensive specification and a folding roof to create an all-season convertible.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design director and chief creative officer, explained: “Range Rover Evoque Convertible is a vehicle for all seasons. Its uniquely distinctive design and world-class engineering adds another dimension to the Range Rover family, further enhancing its desirability and appeal.”

The global SUV market is forecast to grow by 20% over the next five years Land Rover hopes that the Evoque Convertible will play a key role in continuing Range Rover’s success, thanks to it inventing a new SUV sector.

The car’s new exterior design is made possible by a fabric roof shaped to create a crisply defined silhouette that remains faithful to the original design. Its Z-fold mechanism lays flush with the rear bodywork for a sleek, uncluttered appearance when lowered. The fabric roof is the longest and widest currently fitted to any vehicle on sale, Land Rover claimed.

The fully-automated roof stows in 18 seconds, and can be raised in 21 seconds, at speeds up to 30 mph (50kph). Land Rover also said that the position of the roof doesn’t affect load space, with a 251-litre boot avail- able all the time.

At the heart of the high-class cabin is an all-new, high-resolution 10.2-inch touchscreen with Jaguar Land Rover’s next-generation infotainment system, InControl Touch Pro.

Safety hasn’t been overlooked with a Roll- Over Protection Device featuring deployable roll-over bars hidden in the rear bodywork. It deploys two aluminium bars within 90 mil- liseconds in the unlikely event of a roll-over situation to create a survival space.