These days, Range Rover is known for one thing and one thing only: making high-end SUVs. But in a recent interview with CarAdvice, head of design Gerry McGovern revealed that the brand was not against the idea of stretching into the passenger car market.
The motivation behind this, according to McGovern, is based on the way other manufacturers traditionally renowned for making passenger cars have moved into the SUV market and seen tremendous success.
“If you look at how other brands have come into this SUV territory, why couldn’t Land Rover, Range Rover go into that territory?” McGovern asked.
“The thing about Range Rover is, it has massive equity. It has equity comparable to certain fashion brands, not because it’s fashionable but because of the margin. I’d argue that Range Rover as a brand is peerless, there is nothing else like it, and we’ve proven with things like the Evoque and we will prove with the next car, the Velar, that we have the ability to stretch and have much greater resonance in the marketplace, so I think there are lots of opportunities,” he told the Australian publication.
The challenge faced by the company in potentially branching out into new segments is that it would have to pay close attention to trends in the market while retaining its DNA.
McGovern added that the brand’s designers would have to come up with ideas that appealed to markets of the future. Based on how other manufacturers have generated new customers by stretching into new segments, Range Rover is adamant that it can do the same…
