Rangie gets slightly Sportier

LAND ROVER has ushered in a 2009 model year version of its reply to BMW’s still-popular X5, dubbed the 09MY Range Rover Sport.

Largely comprising upgrades to the Rangie Sport’s exterior and interior detailing and paint colour palette, the update comes at no extra cost across the four-variant model range and is on sale now.

New for 2009 is a body-coloured finish for the tailgate trim, a revised tread mat on upper surface of rear bumper and the addition of clear-lens side indicators and tail-light clusters.

A third 20-inch alloy wheel design is now also available in either painted silver or a “diamond turned” finish, while a “shadow chrome” finish is offered for the first time on the existing 10-spoke 20-inch wheels.

Three new metallic paint colours - Santorini Black, Galway Green and Bournville, which is black with “a hint of brown” – are also new.



Inside, the 09MY Sport features a “metallic plate” finish on the centre console sides, air-vent bezels and door-pull handles, called Noble, while premium leather with diagonal stitching is now available on door inserts in Ebony, Almond and Ivory colours.

“The Range Rover Sport excels in its delivery of on-road performance, best in class comfort and refinement, with incredible off-road ability across any terrain,” said Land Rover Australia general manager Roger Jory. “Range Rover Sport is now regarded as the quintessential sports tourer.” The 2.7 TDV6 continues to open the range at $90,860, while the 3.6 TDV6 and 4.4 V8 both cost $114,160 and the 4.2 V8 Supercharged flagship remains at $144,880.

Sales of all luxury SUVs plummeted last month, with the Rangie Sport attracting almost 25 per cent fewer buyers and the X5 being no less than 50 per cent down.

The BMW still leads the market segment, however, with 3259 sales and an 18.8 per cent share – ahead of the Lexus RX (12.3 per cent), Land Rover Discovery (9.0 per cent), Mercedes-Benz M-class (8.9 per cent), Volvo XC90 (7.9 per cent) and Rangie Sport (7.1 per cent), which has narrowly outsold Audi’s Q7 to November this year.

Sales of the X5 are actually up 5.7 per cent so far this year, while Rangie Sport sales are up 1.1 per cent.