Double honours for Land Rover in auto express awards

Tuesday, 19 February 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery 4, continued their winning ways at the 2012 Auto Express awards, taking top honours as best compact SUV and best large SUV respectively.

For the Evoque, which was the reigning Auto Express ‘Car of the Year’, it is the second successive victory in its class, demonstrating that the promise it showed in the build up to its launch last year, has been fully realised.

Its quality, performance and appeal have now been recognised with a total awards to date that stand well in excess of the 100 mark and boosted by excellent sales figures worldwide.

Auto Express Editor-in-Chief Steve Fowler said: “Last year’s Car of the Year is still the one to beat and easily keeps hold of its best compact SUV title.”

“The Evoque is all about style, quality and driver appeal. It turns heads like little else, is built superbly and is great fun to drive a truly brilliant all-rounder.”

“There has been an unprecedented demand for the Evoque”, said a justifiably delighted Sheran Fernando, who recently entered into a joint venture with Sathosa Motors, donning the hat of Managing Director, SML Frontier Automotive with a mandate to continue taking Land Rover ‘Above and beyond’. Fernando added: “In fact since January, over 100 Evoques have been sold.”

The Discovery 4 too accomplishes a hat-trick this year, claiming the ‘Best Large SUV’ award for the third year running, making it the pre-eminent model in its class every year since its launch.

Fernando said: “This is the third Auto Express award for Discovery 4, proof that it is one of the best cars in the real world. Nothing can touch its blend of go-anywhere ability, comfort, tremendous practicality and value.”

“A continual program of development keeps it ahead of the pack and keeps it looking cool, too.”

Land Rover’s across-the-board success this year was completed by the Range Rover being commended in the award’s Luxury Car category. Land Rover/Range Rover is one of the most sought after and prestigious brands in the world and has been one of the top three European luxury automobile brands in Sri Lanka for the past five years. The investment by Sathosa Motors is in line with the company’s strategic view of creating a pool of world-renowned brands under the umbrella of the Access Engineering Group. As a result of their alliance with Land Rover, Sathosa Motors gains entry into the premium segment of the automotive sector having already established its footprint in the commercial vehicle segment. The strength of the Access Group, combined with Fernando’s marketing savvy, guarantees Land Rover an assured position in Sri Lanka’s booming motor industry.