Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Land Rover just unveiled what will be the first new, redesigned Range Rover in a decade. This is only the fifth generation of the large off-road luxury SUV since the model was introduced in 1970. A sleek new design, with smoothed off corners and edges, retains the classic proportions, but gives it a more modern look to better compete in an increasingly crowded world of high-end SUVs.
The Range Rover used to have a pretty straightforward role. When it debuted decades ago it was off-road transportation for farmers, ranchers and hunters. It became an icon of luxury as those who owned large tracts of land or went on hunting safaris tended to be wealthy. Over time, the Range Rover's luxury image found its way to suburban driveways, big-city restaurant valet lines and shopping mall parking lots far from its rugged origins. The "luxury off-road SUV," once an oxymoron, was born.
Now it faces increased competition from brands like BMW and Mercedes, which also offer richly appointed large SUVs. Even Jeep, not previously a competitor, recently introduced the Grand Wagoneer, an opulent off-road-capable SUV that can cost over US$100,000 with options. Lexus, too, recently unveiled a fully redesigned LX, a luxury model based on the Toyota Land Cruiser, an SUV frequently used in rugged environments.
And that's just the gasoline-powered options. Big, electric, high-dollar SUVs like the Tesla Model X and upcoming GMC Hummer EV SUV are coming, as well.
This puts the prices for the new Range Rover, which start at $104,000, in good company. Special long-wheelbase First Edition models will start at $163,500. Land Rover is accepting orders for the vehicle now, although it won't be available until next spring.
Once just a larger Land Rover, Range Rover has become its own sub-brand. Other models include the smaller Range Rover Sport, the futuristic-looking Range Rover Velar, and the smaller Range Rover Evoque. The original Range Rover model, still just called the Range Rover, is the icon of the brand, though.
The new Range Rover will be available with a 523 horsepower turbocharged V8 engine, and a 395 horsepower 6-cylinder version with a mild-hybrid system will also be available. It will have a relatively weak electric motor that will add its power to the gasoline engine to increase fuel efficiency.
But a third option, a plugin hybrid, will be available in 2023. With a fully charged battery, this 434 horsepower SUV will be able to go about 100 kilometres before the six-cylinder engine will be needed, according to Land Rover. That's relatively long electric range for a plugin hybrid. Plugin hybrid SUVs from BMW and Volvo can travel less than half as far without using their gas engines.
A purely electric version will come out in 2024, according to Land Rover
Four-wheel steering, which allows the back wheels to turn along with the front, will give the Range Rover the tightest turning circle of any Land Rover vehicle, according the automaker.
The new Range Rover maintains the SUV's overall squared-off shape and proportions, but gives them a smooth, modern design. The door handles now sink into the doors when not in use, smoothing the sides.. Where there had been slats behind the front the wheels, there is now simply a rectanglular shape vaguely suggestive of a vent. The taillight has been simplified to a thin staple-shaped line going across the SUV's back end.
The change in design has followed a gradual shift in the SUV's customer base, said Gerry McGovern, head of design for Land Rover.
"In Britain, it was always the vehicle of the landed gentry, the establishment, the farmers, the people who lived out in the country, that went shooting, all this sort of thing," he said. "It still has that. It still has a core following, but it's much more than that now. It's entrepreneurs, it's people that are successful, it's people that are creatively minded, or design literate."
It even retains its off-road capabilities, Land Rover executives promise, though they may rarely be tested.
"What we've said is that our vehicles always have to be the best-in-class for capability. Whether people use it or not, it's part of that charm," said McGovern.
He likened it to expensive dive watches that, their makers claim, can go thousands of feet under water. Many owners might never even wear them in the shower, but they appreciate knowing the watch has that sort of capability.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.