Land Rover Will Stay True to its Roots Amidst New Competition

With the upcoming introduction of its first ever SUV, Bentley’s shake up of the luxury truck market is promising to be as significant as when the Porsche Cayenne first launched. But Land Rover isn’t worried about the new competition.

In a sit down interview with Land Rover North America VP Kim McCullough we asked if she was nervous about the upcoming high-rider from another iconic British badge.

“I always pay attention to everything that’s going on and continue to improve what we’re doing,” she said, adding that, “we’ll just continue to do what we do best and not get distracted by competition.”

The Land Rover brand has been carefully curated over decades. It has seen competition before and it will see it again, but the way to survive those challenges, says McCullough, is to stay true to what Land Rover stands for.

“We’re going to have competitors come in and out of the marketplace but I think there is such a big part of our audience that appreciates our authenticity,” she said. “It’s important for us to be true to who we are. At the end of the day our most valuable asset is our brand.”

With equal parts luxury and off-road credibility, Land Rover continues to push the limits of capability and cost. More recently it’s been the latter with the introduction of the new Range Rover Long-Wheelbase Autobiography Black model costing over $180,000 and a limited edition (just 25 are being made) Valloire White version retailing for just shy of $200,000.

With recent reports suggesting the new Bentley SUV, code named Falcon, could cost as much as $270,000 McCullough isn’t ruling out even pricier models in the future. When asked if there’s a limit to what people will spend for a Range Rover she admits, “we haven’t found that yet.”