• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

AutoNews.NZ

  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
    • Medium-sized cars
    • Small cars
    • Large cars
    • 4x4s
    • People-movers
    • SUV-large
    • SUV-luxury
    • SUV-medium
    • SUV-compact
    • Sports cars
    • Luxury cars
    • Hybrid cars
    • Ute
  • Cars & Watches
  • Bike World
  • Tech
  • About Us
  • Videos
    • Spy videos
Home » SUV juggernaut rolls on: New models from Volkswagen, Jaguar, Land Rover …

SUV juggernaut rolls on: New models from Volkswagen, Jaguar, Land Rover …

April 14, 2015 by Alastair Sloane

Don’t expect the sales growth of SUVs to slow down anytime soon, not when a global giant like the Volkswagen Group is promising an SUV version of almost every model it makes.

Jaguar Land Rover is also looking at expanding its range. Toyota’s luxury arm Lexus has just released its NX range; Mazda its new CX-3. Subaru calls its new Outback an SUV. Almost every carmaker has an SUV of some sort.

VW confirmed at the recent New York motor show that it was working on a variety of new SUVs, from a full-sized coupe to rival the BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE to a higher-riding version of the Golf, based on the T-ROC concept (top) shown at Geneva in 2014.

Chairman Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser told reporters the priority was for the development of conventional SUVs rather than expanding the VW Alltrack range.

Volkswagen chairman Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser
Volkswagen chairman Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser

“We can do this (expand Alltrack), clearly, but to be honest, the first priority is a mid-sized SUV, second the Tiguan, then the T-ROC – the Golf SUV.

“We do it job by job. Otherwise it’s too complex to explain to the customer. You can’t do everything in parallel, you must be clear on what you are doing – and the clear plan was to cover each class with an SUV.”

“Once this is done, we’re thinking about coupe derivatives on the mid-sized SUV and on the Tiguan. The T-ROC is a bit coupe-styled so it makes no sense to make an additional coupe because it’s already a trendy, emotional thing. The same is true of a Polo-based version – that will come directly as more dynamic.”

Jaguar and its sister brand Land Rover also hinted they would grow their SUV range. Jaguar is talking about positioning its new F-Pace as the core model in an expanded line-up of crossovers, and Land Rover says of its new Defender that there “will be a family.”

Jaguar global director Steve De Ploey
Jaguar global director Steve De Ploey

Jaguar global director Steven De Ploey told reporters at New York that the success of the SUV market around the world made it too big for Jaguar to ignore.

“I can’t comment on what we’re going to be bringing on that side, but it’s clear that the fastest growing segment are SUVs, mid-size SUVs, compact SUVs. I think the only thing I can say is that the F-Pace will be the core model in that range,” De Ploey said.

“We have very big hopes that it will be the car that will set us on the map as a car that is more practical and more accessible to more customer groups.”

Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern told reporters the company would breed from the new Defender. “There will be a family, I’m not going to tell you what they are – that’s for you to deduct,” he said.

Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern
Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern

“The most important thing is relevance, they need to be relevant to a world that has changed massively since the Defender was first created.”

He said the replacement for the 65-year-old off-roader would retain the rugged, go-anywhere capability of the current model. “The reality is you can’t design a car like that anymore – it doesn’t meet legislation, it’s designed using archaic manufacturing techniques, all of those things.

“It needs to be relevant, it needs to be modern but it needs to capture the essence of the original, the honesty of it. It will be incredibly durable. It has to be even more capable than the original. It’s the price of entry. It will be the real deal.”

 

 

Filed Under: Highlights, Industry news, Latest news Tagged With: jaguar, land rover, Volkswagen

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search

The Good Oil

French carmaker Renault has won the 2025 European Car of the Year award with the all-electric R5 supermini (pictured). It’s the brand’s second win in a row, following the new Scenic’s gong in 2024. The R5 led the vote count from start to finish from the 60 jurors in 23 countries. It received 353 points, beating the Kia EV3 (291 points) and the Citroen C3/e in third place with 215 points. It’s Renault’s eighth win in the 62-year history of the Coty award. The R5 goes on sale in the UK this month. There are two main drivetrains: a 90kW motor/40kWh battery model with a 300km range, and a 112kW/52kWh example with a 400km range. The R5 starts in price at £22.995, or $NZ50,000.

EU carmakers seek trade deal with Trump

BMW and Mercedes-Benz are among carmakers urging the European Union to get a favourable trade deal with US President Donald Trump. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) wants to keep open trade with both the US and China. It fears Trump, who promises heavy tariffs on Chinese imports to the US, will look unfavourably on countries that continue to trade freely with Beijing. Ola Kallenius, president of the group and chairman of the management board of MB, said in a letter to EU leaders:  “Overall, it is essential to recognise that trade with China and the US is most vital for the prosperity of the European economy.The EU should seek a grand bargain with the US and attempt to avoid a potential trade conflict.”

Diesel fuels EV concept for US military

A  go-anywhere EV concept for the US military uses an onboard 12kW diesel generator to top up the batteries on the move.  The all-wheel-drive has 800-volt technology and a 200kWh battery pack to power three electric motors, two in the rear and one up front. Claimed output is 745kW/15,590Nm, or 1000hp and 11,500 ft-lb of torque.  The four-seater was developed by the defence division of General Motors and is based on the platform of the Hummer SUV. It rides on Fox performance shock absorbers and 37-inch tyres and comes with “exceptional” approach and departure angles for off-road mobility. Maximum range using the generator to keep things ticking over is said to be around 500km.

We are the World

The outside temperature in Midland, Texas, was 40.5C when staff at the local office of the US National Weather Service set out to show the cabin of a closed car can literally get baking hot in summer. They mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and laid them on the car’s dashboard – the surface of which showed a temperature of 87.7C. A little over four hours later the cookies were ready to eat. “Even though ours weren’t golden brown, we can confirm that they are done and delicious,” the staff wrote on Facebook.

Footer

Electric G-Wagen takes you for spin

https://youtu.be/NwHbJ7HN1sU

Recent

  • Spoilt for choice: plug-in sales up 150.0%
  • Kia eyes further growth with $52,690 4WD ute 
  • Early morning glory on ice, Audi style
  • Volkswagen tackles Chinese with new ‘people’s car’ 
  • ‘I bought this car before Elon lost his mind’

Tags

Aston martin audi bentley BMW Car reviews Citroen Electric cars Electric vehicles Ferrari Fiat Chrysler Ford Ford Mustang Holden honda hyundai jaguar jeep kia land rover latest news Lexus Lotus Maserati mazda Mclaren mercedes Mercedes-Benz mini Mitsubishi Nissan NZ car sales peugeot porsche range rover skoda spy Subaru suzuki Tesla tips and advice Toyota videos Volkswagen volvo VW

Copyright © 2025 · WordPress Hosting by WPhost