Jaguar SUV will also spawn a new Range Rover

Land Rover may still introduce a new model for its Range Rover lineup based on parent Jaguar Land Rover’s new aluminum platform but has not said yet if it will also build the C-X17 crossover concept.

According to a source familiar with the company’s plans, the new Range Rover would fill a gap between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport and be based on the its new modular aluminum platform announced in September during the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show.

Jaguar Land Rover is investing 1.5 billion pounds (1.79 billion euros) to develop the new platform and said it would form the basis of a new Jaguar sedan due in 2015 that will challenge the BMW 3-series and 5-series. Although it also showed the Jaguar C-X17 crossover concept that is based on the platform, they declined to say whether it would be built.

The source described the styling of the new Range Rover as “car-like on steroids.” The lightweight platform and JLR’s new four-cylinder Hotfire engines will add to the appeal, according to analyst Max Warburton at Bernstein Research.

“The new Range Rover will be lighter and more efficient than any Land Rover-branded product that has gone before,” he said. He predicted prices would match those of the Discovery large SUV, which starts at 38,850 pounds (45,595 euros) in the UK.

Warburton also predicts that the new Range Rover will be built alongside a production version of the Jaguar crossover concept on the same platform. The Jaguar crossover concept shown at Frankfurt measured 4700mm (185 inches) long, pitching it against the Audi Q5 and BMW X3 in terms of size.