Hard case

Tough on the Outside, High-tech and Tenderly Designed on the Inside, the Range Rover Velar Is Ready to Rock

The new Range Rover Velar is the fourth model in the Range Rover line-up, intended to slot between the Range Rover Sport and the Evoque. It’s a sizeable machine, deliberately pitched at new buyers who want a sleeker, sportier SUV that combines both designer style and off-road chops. ‘This car is “white space” for us,’ says Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s caustically ebullient chief design officer, as he explains how the Velar taps into the desires of design-savvy customers who still crave a bit of the company’s legendary capability.

McGovern brings a bracing blend of oldschool off-the-cuffremarks and decidedly new-school thinking in terms of form, materials, technology and luxury. Over the past decade he has transformed the company’s design studio into a crack team of specialists, broadened Land Rover’s model portfolio from four cars to seven, with more to come, and, most remarkably of all, delivered relentless year-on-year sales increases thanks to smart product planning that mines every conceivable niche.