Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations division to ‘put tuners out of business’ – design boss McGovern

Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations division to ‘put tuners out of business’ – design boss McGovern

As the popularity of Land Rover’s products as fashion statements shows no sign of abating, third-party tuners and styling houses have been tagging on for the ride and laughing their way to the bank. No matter how stylish the Range Rovers are off the showroom floor, there will be demand for further personalisation.

The design of the new Range Rover Velar – which debut at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month – displays plenty of attention to detail, and a “visually reductive approach” was employed for it to look so strikingly clean. However, it will not escape the attention of tuners specialising in LR/RR such as Overfinch, Kahn and Brabus’ Startech, to name a few.

This irks Solihull, and the firm’s design director Gerry McGovern has vowed to put these tuners out of business by creating better variants of standard cars through LR’s own Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division, Autocar reports.

From L-R: Kahn Flying Huntsman 6×6, Startech’s Range Rover pick-up truck

“It’s easy to take a product that’s already been created and put a little spoiler on it or whatever, but I’d like to see them design their own car. We see them taking our property and making a bit more profit,” McGovern said, without naming which cringe-worthy bodykit or styling house had annoyed him.

“Well, we’re going to put them out of business through SVO. The opportunities we’re creating there, and the quality of our work, are much better,” he added.

SVO will of course come up with good looking and good quality offerings, but we don’t think that alone will put the third-party customisers out of business. There will always be those who want to be different, and these attention seekers that make up a big portion of Land Rover’s current business most likely do not have an eye for good design like good ol’ Gerry.

GALLERY: Range Rover Velar

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • oh mak lu cina on Mar 21, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    So does it mean I buy a house from developer, I cannot renovate it as I wish?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Semi-Value (Member) on Mar 21, 2017 at 7:43 pm

    they don get it, rich indian fler like me wont have taste…we want gold rims gold leather and purple wood trim

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • Mikey on Mar 22, 2017 at 9:39 am

    I think Solihull & the firm’s design director Gerry McGovern is plain childish. If there is a market for RR/LR tuners, it also means there is money to be made.

    If a tuner can make the LR/RR better looking, it also mean LR/RR design has room for improvement. Maybe its design director feels threatened by specialist tuner.

    U can always go the way of Mercedes when they bought AMG & make it into part of MB Group.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Not Toyota Fan on Mar 22, 2017 at 4:42 pm

    LR Special Vehicle Operations Division produces armoured LR (bullet proof LR), Range Rover Sentinel. Individual comfort options available like sports pink leather or surround sound audio system or blind spot monitoring etc. All for a min of £400,000.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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