Stillborn two-door Range Rover was due to be produced in 999 units by SVO
It’s not often that a car maker decides to cancel production of a new model after orders have already been placed. In fact, it’s almost completely unheard of these days. But that’s exactly what Land Rover has done with its Range Rover SV Coupe less than a year after the £240k model made its debut.
The official line from Land Rover is that the plug was pulled on production of all 999 cars so the company can focus attention on its core product line-up. But the move raises unanswered questions, like were there not enough orders, or did the company underestimate production costs of its bespoke model, which shared only two body panels with the standard car? We’ll probably never know the full story.
All we can hope is that the death of the SV Coupe doesn’t signal a tightening of purse for JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations, which was the division tasked with building the 565hp supercharged V8 model. Because at a time when JLR’s global sales have plummeted (they fell by 13.8% at the end of last year), you might imagine that SVO would be the first to feel the resulting squeeze of investment.
There may be a light at the end of the SVO tunnel, however, in the shape of the Jaguar F-Pace SVR. The regular F-Pace set records for Jaguar when it went on sale back in 2016, so this 550hp variant – which conveniently slots into a segment of performance SUVs that’s bucked industry trends – could provide a welcome kick up the backside to hot Jag sales. It’s due on roads in the coming weeks.
As for the SV Coupe, it looks like that ship’s long since sailed.
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