Range Rover Velar officially unveiled

Land Rover has officially unveiled the Velar which is the 4th car in the Range Rover series. The original Velar was launched in 1970, and now the name has been re-introduced to fill in the gap between the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport. The car will make its debut at the Geneva International Motor Show this month.

The Velar uses Land Rover's lightweight Aluminium Architecture and follows the design lines of its Range Rover siblings. It will be available as the Velar and Velar R-Dynamic range, and each of these will have 4 variants - Standard, S, SE and HSE. There is also a First Edition model which will be available worldwide for just one model year. Upfront, the car gets full LED headlamps with DRLs and a grille which is similar to the one seen on the Evoque (but this one is broader). The front bumper houses air inlets as well as a skid plate at the bottom. The Velar has a wheelbase of 2,874 mm and the pillars are blacked out which is seen throughout the Range Rover series. The rear taillights and fog lights also get LED treatment while the twin chrome exhausts are integrated into the rear bumper.

On the inside, the front seats have 20-way adjustment with heating, cooling and massage functions. The rear seats are also available with heating and electric recline options. The car has a four zone climate control system and two 10-inch touchscreens. Direct access to various functions can be personalized on both these screens. SE and above variants have a 12.3 inch MFD behind the steering wheel which shows information such as speed, turn-by-turn navigation, safety system warnings etc. It also gets a head-up display and the luggage compartment is 673 litres. In terms of safety, the Velar is equipped with 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, traction control, dynamic stability control, cornering brake control, roll stability control and emergency brake assist. Electronic air suspension allows the height to be lowered by 50 mm.

Two petrol and two diesel engines are on offer. The petrol engine is a 2.0 L, in-line 4-cylinder engine which makes 247 BHP and 365 Nm of torque. The First edition model will be available with a 3.0 L, V6 petrol engine which is capable of producing 375 BHP. The 2.0 L Ingenium diesel engine is rated at 177 BHP and 430 Nm while the 3.0 L churns out 296 BHP and 700 Nm of torque.

The Range Rover Velar will go on sale from Summer 2017 in the UK and Europe.