That’s the $43,995 question riding the broad shoulders of the smallest-ever Range Rover, the Evoque. To be accurate, it’s the $43,995 to $53,895 question, if we include all the trim levels. That lofty base-price range makes the thesis issue—the preeminence of style as a purchase motivator for SUVs—critical to this Range Rover newbie. A matter of life and death, even.
The product planners and marketing troops would probably want to protest at this point that their new vehicle delivers something its competitors—primarily the Audi Q5, BMW X3, and Mercedes-Benz GLK—do not: serious off-road capability.
After our first Evoque experience, which included substantial episodes of bouncing around in wild Welsh terrain that ranged from rocky trails to deeply rutted mud tracks—all in persistent rain—we readily concede that this small-scale Range Rover would leave its German rivals either mired down or high-centered on some lonely moor. However, the Range Rover people also recognize that most Evoque owners probably won’t venture farther from pavement than a dirt road or pea-gravel parking lot.
Competitive Checklist
So if superior off-road credentials don’t count for much with urbanites who have no off-road aspirations, where’s the competitive edge? It’s not price; the Evoque’s least expensive get-in—for the basic Pure Plus five-door model—is higher than upscale versions of the Q5, X3, and GLK.
Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/11q3/2012_land_rover_range_rover_evoque-first_drive_review
