Currently reading: Range Rover: 'the sky's the limit' for price of bespoke models

Brand will focus on the "big business" of high-value commissions, mirroring luxury rivals

JLR has said "the sky is the limit" for Range Rover pricing, as it looks to increase its bespoke offerings and move firmly into luxury car territory.

Range Rover managing director Martin Limpert said: "We don't want to show up as a car company, we want to show up as a modern luxury company".

Last year the brand sold its first factory-supplied car for almost £500,000: the SV Asilomar edition, which was presented during Monterey Car Week.

Limpert told Autocar that it could and will go further: "I think the sky is the limit. We want to further evolve that business area.

"Bespoke is a really big business area for us. We curated for a US customer the SV Asilomar edition, which was sold for $550,000 [£410,230], roughly double the price of the Range Rover SV. But after elevating and curating it with the personal requirements, that's where we ended up."

Range Rover SV Asilomar – rear

Developing its bespoke offerings would put Range Rover firmly into the sphere of Bentley and towards Rolls-Royce.

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Within the next year it plans on opening another 12 commissioning suites for its bespoke programme, so-called 'Range Rover Houses', which it said "offer clients a sanctuary to immerse themselves in luxury experiences and to be among the first in the world to see and drive some of Range Rover's most exclusive models".

Asked just how expensive a Range Rover could be, Limpert replied: "I don't see a limit. Honestly, I think it depends on the value that we generate for the customer. It really depends on the levels of personalisation capabilities, where we're really trying to push the boundaries - from paint jobs, to stitching, to embroidery, to getting a family crest or your family name on different places of the veneers and so on.

"In the future, can we use materials that are not currently part of our offering but that the customer wants to be included because they have a historical relationship to it, or something like this.

"It really depends ultimately on what value do we generate for our customers?"

As if to illustrate the point, Range Rover tuner Overfinch recently announced its 25-off Holland & Holland edition (below), one of which cost its owner £1 million, as testament to the amount buyers are willing to pay to make their Range Rover as bespoke as possible.

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Despite the push upmarket, Limpert said the incoming GT will be a complementary fifth model in the Range Rover line-up rather than a replacement for either of its least expensive models, the Evoque and Velar.

"It's not replacing anything," he said, although those two models are eight and nine years old respectively and thought to be up for retirement soon. That would leave the entry point for a Range Rover with the GT, with a predicted starting price around £70,000.

Rival premium car manufacturers have shown it's possible to keep both very expensive and value models in the range: buyers can spend around £30,000 or well into six figures on cars from BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

But JLR aims to create bigger spaces between its three SUV marques: Defender, Discovery and Range Rover.

"That's the whole idea of setting up the House of Brands," said Limpert of JLR's move to reframe its three SUV brands, with Land Rover used only as a 'trust mark' on the SUVs and 4x4s.

"Speaking for my brand in that case," Limpert added, "the equity is already there: customers recognise it more as a Range Rover [than a Land Rover] already.

Range Rover SV Asilomar – rear badge

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Defining the difference between the three brands, Limpert said: "Defender is all about rugged off-road capabilities - really about pure adventure. This is for those people that really want to go anywhere and do anything."

Discovery, meanwhile, "is all about versatility, family, togetherness. It's more about where the journey is the destination."

New models and the rebranding, Limpert said, were meant "really to give each their space and their room to define and grow their personalities." He added: "Not that we want to tell customers which brand to buy."

Inside the £410k Asilomar Edition

Range Rover SV Asilomar – interior

Unique look

Two-tone paint is inspired by the underwater landscapes of Monterey Bay, where the car was revealed. Special badges, colour-coded wheels and branded treadplates amp up uniqueness.

VIP cabin

Bespoke blue leather seats and accompanying cushions feature custom embroidery. An electronic wooden drinks table rises and folds out from between the fully reclining rear seats.

Extra goodies

The purchase price included a $5000 (£3730) donation to an ocean conservation fund and a fully customised, tailored set of golf clubs.

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Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes.