Next-generation Range Rover Sport is drawing near and we can expect BMW M power and pure electric powertrains.
Land Rover will soon follow up the launch of the fifth-generation Range Rover with an all-new version of the Range Rover Sport. It’ll start hitting showrooms at the end of this year, featuring the similar design language and technology as its bigger sibling. These exclusive renders give us a good idea of the styling details that will appear.
Land Rover’s new car will compete with everything from the BMW X5 to the pure-electric Audi e-tron. The British brand is targeting this breadth of ability by moving the Range Rover Sport onto its new Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA), which supports 48-volt mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric powertrains.
The next Range Rover Sport’s styling will likely be an evolution over the previous model, featuring the same rough silhouette as its predecessor with a few key design details inspired by the latest Range Rover, such as the flush-fit door handles and headlight cluster that extend round and onto the front wings.
The front grille and bumper arrangement is more like the Velar’s, while the rear end also seems to borrow that car’s wrap-around tail lights. The length of the wheelbase appears similar to the old car’s, too, which would make it just under three metres long. However, the car’s front and rear overhangs are significantly shorter.
This evolutionary approach to the Sport’s design may well be less challenging than the Range Rover. The Range Rover Sport is one of the brand’s best-selling models, with the previous version of the car outselling the full-size Range Rover almost 2:1. It was also Jaguar Land Rover’s joint-second best-seller in the group’s most recent financial results, trailing only the Evoque.
Buyers will still have a choice of combustion engines on the next Range Rover Sport, but the big news is that the SUV is also going to be available with a pure-electric powertrain. Jaguar Land Rover has previously confirmed that it will collaborate with BMW on the electric drive units for its next-generation vehicles.
The electric Range Rover has already been scheduled for a launch in 2024 – and we expect a pure-electric Range Rover Sport will follow closely behind, using the same EV technology as the upcoming BMW i5 and i7 sedans.
There’s still hope for petrolheads, though, as Land Rover will continue to produce the Range Rover Sport SVR. What’s more, we also expect this model will take an old-school approach to performance, featuring the same twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 engine found in the BMW X5 M Competition.
Luke Wilkinson