Yorkregion.com - Wheels - Land Rover LRX Concept to offer brand’s values in more compact package
Land Rover LRX Concept to offer brand’s values in more compact package
Land Rover will show the LRX concept at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show. The concept hints at the brand's interest in developing new markets.
Wheels
Dec 26, 2007 01:44 PM
By: ROBINSON/BEINTEMA AUTOFILES
Land Rover will unveil a vision of its future at the NAIAS (Detroit Auto Show) in January with the world debut of the LRX concept. It is seen as a bold evolution of Land Rover design that indicates the brand's progressive shift into new areas of the market, while remaining true to its core values.
As the company prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary during 2008, the three-door LRX, with its more compact size, lighter weight and sustainability focused technologies, clearly addresses the needs of a changing world.
The LRX is described as a cross-coupe, and dramatically extends the scope of what Land Rover stands for. Though smaller than the LR2, the LRX is conceived as a premium car, designed to appeal to new customers in the luxury and executive sector, those who want many of the benefits of a 4x4 and the visual presence of a larger vehicle, but in a more compact package.
The first all-new Land Rover revealed since Gerry McGovern became the company's design director, LRX is a natural extension of the Land Rover range, complementing the existing models with a car that will help to define a new segment.
Its many recognizable Land Rover design cues include bold new interpretations of the signature clamshell bonnet, the floating roof and the solid, wheel-at-each-corner stance.
Its compact size is one of its greatest assets, which will appeal to anyone who wants the versatile ability of an agile 4x4 with the cachet of the Land Rover name.
In addition, its lower weight and the reduced aerodynamic drag resulting from the smaller frontal area give significant gains in fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions.
The carefully sculpted corners dramatically reduce the car's visual overhangs front and rear. With its perforated two-bar grille, door releases concealed in the car's shoulders, and graphic details punched out of the smooth body surfaces rather than overlaid on them, the LRX is beautifully proportioned and elegantly simple, but very dramatic and distinctive.