Land Rover's boss says he wants the new Evoque to follow the original Range Rover and "create a new segment of the market" when it arrives in showrooms next summer.
Phil Popham said he believes the production Evoque, revealed today at the Paris motor show, has the potential to kick-start a new 'baby premium' area of the market.
"Historically Land Rover has a record on creating new market segments or at least guiding them in another direction," he said. "Think back to the original Range Rover, the Freelander or the Range Rover Sport. We're optimistic that Evoque can achieve the same."
Popham also confirmed the Evoque will herald a fresh move upmarket for the Range Rover marque. "Range Rover is luxury, Land Rover is versatility and practicality," he said. "The Evoque has helped to define our brand positioning. It says a lot about where Range Rover can go in the future."
Two specs of 2.2-litre turbodiesel powerplants, with 148bhp and 187bhp, will form the bulk of sales of the Evoque in the UK. Both of the models will have stop-start as standard when accompanied by a manual gearbox.
There will also be a petrol version, using a 237bhp variant of Ford's turbocharged 2.0-litre Ecoboost engine.
Front-drive 148bhp diesel will return 58mpg and less than 130g/km of CO2 when paired with a manual gearbox (adding two driven wheels will cost you 8mpg and more than 15g/km).
But the oil-burners and the petrol motor will also be offered with four-wheel drive and an updated six-speed auto transmission; it's controlled via the rising circular selector from the Jaguar XF.
Thanks to: Autocar