Range Rover Evoque was launched in the UAE at a colourful event at the Meydan Hotel, with the surprise reveal of Jaguar’s concept supercar designed to be one of the fastest, low-emission vehicles in the world.
The famed wireframe Evoques were displayed at the launch
Dubai, November 9, 2011: On my way to the Evoque’s UAE launch, I was trying to place the category it belongs to – but couldn’t find a counterpart that truly fits in with it. The same sentiment was reflected in Robin Colgan‘s words later in the evening. “It’s unique, nobody has done or plans to do something like this. Either it’s totally stupid, or it’s something uniquely brilliant.” The reveal soon tilted minds towards believing the latter. 32,000 pre-orders reflect the same confidence level. Jaguar-Land Rover’s Managing Director, MENA and Pakistan went on to make an offer to the gathering, blowing even the faintest doubt away, “I will personally drive each of you in the new Evoque to demonstrate its capability. Besides having excellent road manners, it’s entirely off-road capable.” Earlier, Ashok Khanna, CEO, Al Tayer Motors had introduced the Evoque as “the most awaited model to be launched in the UAE this year”.
Range Rover Evoque takes the crown in looks!
As befitting of its uniqueness, Jaguar-Land Rover followed a unique approach for its launch as well. Ali Mustafa, the acclaimed maker of “City of Life”, the internationally recognized movie from the UAE, was roped in as not only the brand ambassador but also as the director of a short film featuring three young men on their adventure across the Middle East. And what’s their escape companion – you guessed it! As Ali says in a clip about the movie, “It was a grueling schedule, but we had a lot of fun making it!” Not surprising, because Evoque turned out to be a fun car to be seen in, with its nippy 2.0 L engine churning out 240 bhp to drive a carriage that is 725 kg lighter than the Range Rover sport. Which is the reason why both the siblings achieve 0-100 in 7.3 seconds!
Evoque, with its nippy 2.0 L engine churning out 240 bhp, is 725 kg lighter than the Range Rover sport and achieves 0-100 in 7.3 seconds!
Karen Topp and Charlie at the launch. Karen would like to have Evoque as her Christmas present with a festive bow around it. She feels the design is pretty impressive and unique, but would’ve liked the rear windows to be slightly bigger. She admits they wouldn’t matter on a ride.
Karen doesn’t like overwhelmingly huge cars and “the Evoque is the just the right size.”
Another couple, bubbling with enthusiasm for the Evoque were Judi Cahill and Bill, suggesting that the Evoque can evoke an emotional upheaval in everyone young at heart!
Sujoy and Sheetal loves the interiors and the dynamic coupe version. Sujoy suggests women would love its aesthetic and compact design more. “Cadillac SRX, watch out,” he adds.
The Range Rover Evoque is distinguished by an exceptionally low and stooping top profile, which adds to its sporty feel, and all the way distinguished by an uninterrupted sunroof.
Range rover's lightest and most fuel-efficient model yet!
Compared with Range Rover’s entry level SUV, the LR2, Evoque shares its off-roading capabilities but has greater clearance and more significantly, focuses largely on luxury and cult-value, as suggested by its price, too. The Evoque can be yours after a reasonably long wait and at a hefty AED 215,000 to 235,000.
