This new £250,000 Range Rover Lansdowne signals Jaguar Land Rover's intent to shake up the bespoke market, with a new-look Special Vehicle (SV) division gunning for Bentley Mulliner and Rolls-Royce Bespoke.
It has become the latest company to offer personalised vehicles, following record income from rivals using a similar model. Bentley broke its 2021 profit record by July 2022, which it put down to a rise in personalisations requests.
JLR hopes this will boost overall profits for the development of future models following a torrid time, having at the end of 2022 posted its first profitable quarter since 2020 on the back of rising sales of its Range Rover line-up, especially in the US.
Aiming to transition to an agency model by late 2024, JLR will eventually deal with customers directly rather than through dealerships.
Sixteen examples of the Range Rover SV Lansdowne Edition, launched today, will be produced. All of the cars, which each carry a number stamp, have already been sold.
The SV Lansdowne Edition gets a number of bespoke options, including exclusively commissioned Lansdowne Grey Gloss paint, accented with what Land Rover calls “unique design details”; 23in alloy wheels finished in satin black with grey inserts; and chrome detailing on the front and rear bumpers.
Inside, it has a unique rosewood interior, a ceramic finish to the controls, leather-bound carpeting and the usually optional Tailgate Event Suite as standard, enabling owners to sit on foldable chairs on the split-folding tailgate.
“Alongside exceptional vehicles like the Lansdowne Edition, we're developing locations, services and events that provide unique and exclusive touchpoints for our clients,” said Patrick McGillycuddy, JLR UK sales director. He was speaking at the opening of a century-old refurbished boutique in Mayfair.
The Lansdowne Edition will enter the market alongside custom luxury SUVs such as the Bentley Bentayga Mulliner and Rolls-Royce Cullinan Bespoke, the latter of which has a starting price of £264,000.
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Well, that's the price it costs for the craftsmanship and time to build and all that's involved in designing your Car inside to your requirements, so that's where the money is giving your customer what they want to precisely.
The ceramic finish to the controls sounds great. I had one of my watches cerakoted and it was super-sweet. They're only doing 16 of these, the project was probably conceived in close consultation with the owners. i.e. if 18 people wanted one, they would have done 18.
A big price for not a lot different not better?, are they any more reliable than any other?, for that kind of money you'd expect a man to come and fix your Car anywhere anytime just like RR used to do a hundred years ago!