The New Must-Have SUV?

It’s not every day that Land Rover launches an entirely new vehicle range. It’s been a decade, in fact. Designed to slot between the Evoque and Sport, the new 2018 Velar, with its coupe-like rear end, will battle with fellow crossovers from the Porsche Macan to the BMW X4. 

Land Rover’s flagship Range Rover turns 50 in 2020. The same spirit of innovation — not to mention terrain-conquering prowess — is promised for the Velar, the fourth member of this illustrious family that will officially be unveiled on March 1 ahead of the Geneva Auto Show.

Described as taking a “visually reductive” approach, Land Rover chief design officer Gerry McGovern describes the Velar, seen in this teaser image, as the avant-garde Range Rover.

“It brings a new dimension of glamour, modernity and elegance to the brand. The Range Rover Velar changes everything,” says McGovern. 

According to Land Rover, the Velar, which shares a platform with stablemate Jaguar F-Pace, uses unique sustainable materials and advanced engineering as it fleshes out the brand’s luxury SUV lineup. Aesthetically, the Velar may prove to be a bestseller for the brand. Range Rover–traditional styling cues include the floating roof and sloped D-pillar, although it eschews its big brothers’ boxy taillights in favor of slimmer, more stylish units. 

What powertrain comes under its shapely bodywork is a mystery, but the smart money is on the engines and transmissions available in the aforementioned F-Pace. Expect a 2.0L turbocharged gas (247hp) in lower trim levels while higher-spec Velars will likely feature the 340hp supercharged 3.0L gas V6, shared with the F-Pace, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and other Jaguar-Land Rover products.

Fun fact: The origin of the Velar name (pronounced vel-ar) dates back to the first Range Rover prototypes of the Sixties. When development engineers needed to hide the true identity of the 26 pre-production Range Rover vehicles, they chose the name Velar, derived from the Latin ‘velare’ meaning to veil or cover.