The most attainable Range Rover, and easily the least desirable, will no longer be offered sans rear doors. While the five-door Evoque soldiers on for the 2019 model year alongside its ridiculous convertible sibling, the automaker says there will no longer be a three-door available anywhere on the planet.
It’s just the latest evidence that automakers aren’t interested in shelling out for seldom bought body styles just to satisfy a handful of nonconformist buyers.
Hold on, you’re thinking, hasn’t Jaguar Land Rover already deep-sixed the three-door Evoque? You’re correct, but that decision only affected the North American market, where the Evoque three-door disappeared for the 2018 model year. In Europe and elsewhere, 2019 brings a lineup devoid of anything that could accurately be referred to as a “coupe.”
Actually, if you happen to be one of 999 ultra-wealthy buyers, there technically is a coupe (the SV Coupe) on offer in 2019, but the model’s extreme exclusivity means you won’t find it on many shopping lists.
News of the three-door Evoque’s demise, arriving via Autocar, comes as the automaker readies a second-generation of the compact SUV for a global launch. That model appears next year as a 2020 model, and it seems certain there’ll be no three-door variant. Autocar cites sources who claim 95 percent of the Evoque’s sales came from the traditional five-door model.
“From the 2019 model year, Land Rover has rationalised its Range Rover Evoque bodystyle offering to concentrate on the five-door model and convertible, which account for the majority of sales,” a company spokesman told the publication.
In a land awash with unibody utility vehicles, Range Rover’s long-in-the-tooth Evoque — which appeared in late 2011 as a 2012 model — saw a U.S. sales peak in 2015. Over the first five months of 2018, Evoque sales slipped 45.6 percent in the United States.
[Image: Jaguar Land Rover]
I still kind of think the next Lincoln Mark Roman Numeral will be something along these lines.
I personally think that this is the best looking product Rover has made in a quarter century.
“If you want to drive into the jungle take a Range Rover, if you want to drive out take a Land Cruiser.”
Whatever you do don’t take a BMW or Audi! THEy came bottom of the U.K. JD power dependability survey, behind Fiat even! Volvo came Too. Jag were above average.
But there’s enough demand for the convertible version to justify its existence?!
I’ve thought thing was a joke from the very beginning, like the bit on TopGear where James May drives “Cher” (actually Cher impersonator Chad Michaels) around in one of the five-doors. As phony as Chad Michaels.
One less variant of yappy Shih Tzu to afflict the roads.
I view the Range Evoque as Range Rovers Cadillac moment.
The only people who buy them are the most insecure wannabe nickel millionaires around.
The Evoque is not a Range Rover, no where’s near one.
You can buy a Kia or Hyundai CUV that is more desirable. Even the RAV4 is more desirable.