Evoque to eat Freelander sales?

If the new baby Rangie cannibalises its Freelander stablemate, Land Rover Australia's not worried
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Land Rover admits the arrival of the new Range Rover-badged Evoque prestige compact SUV may take away sales from its own Freelander... But it's a pleasant problem to have.

The brand's most groundbreaking venture since the original Range Rover in 1970, Evoque is designed to pick up buyers in the compact luxury SUV market -- an arena which heretofore RR has left to others.

Though Evoque's local pricing will not be finalised until closer to launch -- scheduled for September this year -- it's likely the entry price of the five-door model will be perilously close to that of the latest upgraded Freelander.  Pricing for the Freelander II range, which was recently expanded to seven models with the addition of new 2.2-litre diesel offerings, tops out at around $66K.

But Land Rover anticipates customers of the Rangie Evoque will see the model as very different to the Freelander and is not concerned about losing sales overall.

"Evoque will be perceived as more of an urban-type of vehicle; chosen by someone who's looking at style more than flexibility [of use] like that offered by the Freelander," suggested Land Rover Australia Director, Chris Lidis.

"Whilst there may be some substitution, it probably won't be that significant."

And if there is substitution from Freelander to Evoque, the company stands to keep another customer, either way, Lidis suggests.

Land Rover sold 970 Freelander models during 2010 -- the best year of sales for the nameplate "in a long time" -- and yet the company "barely held share" in the segment, says Director for Jaguar Land Rover Australia (and new Asia-Pacific boss for the brands), David Blackhall.

Blackhall told the Carsales Network: "If you look at BMW X3, X5, and Audi Q5, Q7, it's a really hot segment," he said.

 "The growth there is pretty significant... But there is an issue with the trade-offs [between Freelander and Evoque], so we've had to make those calls. We'll know whether we're right or wrong in a while..."

As seen at its local reveal in Sydney for last year's Australian International Motor Show the Evoque represents a very different offering than the blockish, capable Freelander.

Evoque will be "the most affordable Range Rover" yet and is likely to earn the maker sales by conquest over other brands. The softroader is specifically positioned as a car  games offering, as opposed to RR's super capable, super large and generally inaccessible Vogue and Sport models.

Evoque's attraction over its stablemate is its styling and more luxurious cabin treatment than the Freelander's plasticky version.

There's also significant ‘novelty' factor for small SUV buyers being offered a Range Rover model for the first time.

"As a brand we've never been considered as a compact SUV-type brand. To have two vehicles in the same segment will bring people in and gives them more choice... I think incrementally they'll [the Land Rover and Range Rover brands] both do better, Blackhall told the Carsales Network.

The Evoque also sits below the RR Sport model "very, very nicely" says Blackhall, enabling: "Sport buyers at a different lifestyle stage to downsize..."

The clincher, opines Blackhall, is that the Evoque will introduce buyers to Range Rover who, to date couldn't afford but aspired to owning a model "with the Range Rover badge".