Second-gen Range Rover Evoque to be unveiled in October 2018

Since its launch, the Evoque has added to the success story of Land Rover. Right now, assumptions are that Land Rover is set to reveal the car in October next year at the Paris Motor Show.

The outgoing Evoque has firmly established its position in several markets. Its design boss, Gerry McGovern, believes there is no need for the concept to be reinvented, saying it should keep its “key ingredients” intact and would be designed to keep the design “more relevant”. He said the task was to “take the Evoque MK1 integrity and make it more relevant". Moreover, Land Rover was working to make the vehicle more modern, precise, comfortable and luxurious, other than the aesthetic changes that are planned.

The design is believed to draw inspiration from the new Velar, which has already influenced styling changes to the recently facelifted Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models.

Evoque MK2’s interior will include a dual touchscreen on the central console and a wide digital instrument binnacle in order to enhance Evoque’s connectivity options. The second-gen model will be built on an overhauled version of the present D8 structure of the car (Jaguar Land Rover’s only front-wheel-drive architecture for transverse engine models). The brand will focus on improving the ride quality of the Evoque and the comfort level of the passengers.

However, the new Evoque is likely to remain dimensionally similar without any significant change in size being 4,390mm long and 1,900mm wide. Its wheelbase is tad longer compared to the current model at 2,681mm. It also gets an increased track width and a redesigned trailing arm suspension set-up to be used at the rear to improve rear passenger comfort. This next-generation Evoque range is understood to be limited to a single five-door body style. Furthermore, the MK2 will use the same 2.0 -litre 4-cylinder, turbocharged Ingenium petrol and diesel engines. However, the company will work on the engine to improve fuel economy.

Front-wheel-drive will be offered on entry-level versions, with all-wheel-drive standard on higher trims. Both the engines will be mated to JLR’s ZF-sourced nine-speed automatic gearbox, and Land Rover’s latest off-road technology will be offered to ensure the Evoque’s go-anywhere credibility.

After 2020, all JLR models will have either an electric or a plug-in hybrid variant. However, the Evoque is expected to launch just before that time frame and is not likely to have either of them initially. The mild-hybrid version was first revealed as a part of Evoque E-technology project in 2015 and is currently used in the Evoque, Discovery Sport and Jaguar’s E-Pace.

The company has not given any confirmation on launch of a pure electric Evoque due to the limitations of the D8 architecture. Land Rover has not revealed when the second-gen Evoque will come to India, where the locally manufactured current-gen model retails from Rs 44.44 lakh to Rs 59.76 lakh (ex-showroom, India).