Range Rover Evoque

Every bit the proper Range Rover, as Ben Samuelson explains.

- Ben Samuelson

Seven years ago, I reviewed the first-generation Range Rover Evoque, and wrote that I thought it would probably be something of success. It turns out I was wrong. It has been a huge success – a colossal, sector-defining, bottom-line altering success that helped Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) enjoy one of the best periods of its history.

But then, it started to go wrong for JLR. It depended on the Chinese market, which has imploded on the back of a trade war with the US. In Europe, most sales were diesels (when did you last see a new petrol Discovery or Range Rover?).

Unfortunately, Europe has fallen out of love with diesels – even the latest super-clean ones – thanks to some confused messages from our political masters. The situation has not been helped by sales of Jaguar’s fine range of saloons never really taking off. And then, the Evoque started to get a little old. It was still a good car, and still looked better than any other small crossover, but they were all a little more efficient, a little higher-tech – a little newer…