Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept, range rover velar
Land Rover Discovery Vision ConceptLand Rover

Luxury utility vehicle specialist Land Rover is reportedly planning to launch yet another SUV in its portfolio. The British marquee is preparing to unveil a SUV-coupe at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Also read: Jaguar Land Rover shelves plan to make small SUV in India

The new SUV will be called Velar and it will be the brand's most radical-looking in its history, Autocar reports. Velar will be positioned between Evoque and Range Rover Sport, and will go up against Porsche Macan, BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe.

The name Velar comes from the original secret Range Rover prototypes in the late 1960s. The new SUV-coupe will be built in ultra-modern aluminium body and at the assembly plant in Solihull. Use of aluminium means, it could weigh as little as 1,800kg. Internally called Evoque XL, Velar will be a five-seater and will share most of the underpinnings with Jaguar F-Pace, including IQ platform.

Velar will be slightly longer than Macan and that translates more interior room. Velar will be offered only in four-wheel drive format. The SUV-coupe will feature short overhangs and good ground clearance complementing the off-road DNA of Land Rover brand.

Velar will be powered by a range of four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines, both diesel and petrol under the JLR belt. A fully electric powertrain JLR for Jaguar I-Pace SUV or a hybrid powertrain for the Velar cannot be written off.

Velar is also expected to get SVR treatment. A range-topping high-performance Velar variant likely to be powered by 550hp supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine, which is also planned for the F-Pace SVR.

Land Rover is also getting ready to re-launch iconic Defender brand sometime in 2019. The new Defender will be a full-blown off-roader just like its predecessor.

Source: Autocar