Opinion: Fifth Range Rover is the most important generation yet

New flagship SUV sets the tone for Land Rover's electrified reinvention, and must be successful

It's remarkable how fresh and contemporary the Mk4 Range Rover still felt on a recent extended drive. Indeed, the nine-year-old model toppled the much newer – and more expensive – Bentley Bentayga in a twin test as recently as April.

More remarkable still is just how dated the current Range Rover now looks parked next to the all-new fifth-generation car, revealed today.

Such is progress. The Range Rover has reached that ‘mature’ stage of its existence after more than five decades on sale, where design conventions are so well established that it can confidently pursue an evolutionary process, refining a proven and much- imitated successful recipe rather than seeking an unnecessary reinvention.

Yet this is a Range Rover with more riding on it than ever. It is the first in a new era of Land Rover models this decade to be underpinned by an all-new architecture that will bring electric vehicles to the brand for the first time. It must be right straight out of the box, not only to keep the sales and profits coming in for what is Land Rover’s cash cow, but also to build confidence in the models that will follow.

The luxury SUV class that the Range Rover established and has long sat atop is now as hard fought as it’s ever been, but already this new model looks like being yet another big leap forward.