Land Rover Considering A Range Rover Evoque XL

Rumours are circulating that Land Rover is contemplating adding a fourth Range Rover by extending the Evoque to plug a hole between the standard model and the Range Rover Sport.

Autocar is suggesting that an additional 300mm (11.3 inches) could be added to the length, part of it to create more rear cabin space and the rest added to the rear overhang to increase boot space and possibly support a third row of seats.  For packaging and aesthetic reasons, the low roof line of the Evoque would also need to be lifted by around 100mm (3.9 inches).  Other than providing room for up to seven passengers through extra seats, the interior would remain the same.  The Evoque XL would come only in five-door guise, unlike its smaller brother which also has a three-door, badged the Coupe.

The Evoque is based on the same platform as the Land Rover Freelander 2, which is the Ford EuCD platform that also underpins the Ford Mondeo and all current large Volvos (Ford owned both Land Rover and Volvo before selling them off when the financial crisis hit, remember).  Using it as the basis of another model variant would be highly cost effective for Land Rover, as would the ability to share so many other components across the Evoque and Evoque XL models.

Autocar is suggesting that engines would be the same between the two, but we can’t help wondering whether the larger Evoque XL might also get some more powerful engine options to bridge the gap between the standard Evoque, which maxes at 240bhp, and the Sport, where the top of the range Supercharged model packs 510bhp.  Currently the Evoque and Freelander only carry four cylinder engines, but we wonder whether the 3.0 TD6 diesel from the RR Sport and Jaguar XF (where it makes 275bhp) might fit?

The regular Range Rover Evoque goes on sale in September 2011 from £27,955.

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