Obituary: Range Rover Evoque Coupe, 2012-2017

Fans of high-riding, luxury-branded, two-door SUVs were saddened this week to learn of the demise of the Range Rover Evoque Coupe.

Aged six model years, the Range Rover Evoque Coupe is survived by its five-door and convertible brothers. It was preceded in death by any semblance of off-road capability and the proper use of turn signals.

Sales of the coupe have apparently fallen into the nether regions of RR’s monthly reports, dipping below numbers shown for the five-door and even the extremely niche convertible version. Total sales for the Evoque in America generally hovers around 1,000 units per month.

Base prices for the three-door Evoque started around $45,000 but were often optioned up with a Civic’s worth of add-ons to a sticker far north of its base price. The five-door and convertible will live on in the American market for 2018. All three variants will remain available in other markets, such as Europe.

Aston Martin once toyed with a tall coupe but ultimately cast the idea aside. As we know, plenty of spendy customers exist for sport-ute “coupes,” they just want them to have four doors — y’know, in true coupe style.

Among other changes, the 2018 Evoque and Evoque Convertible, soldiering on without their Coupe brother, get the four-cylinder mill found in the new and fantastically-named Velar. The new engine, by the way, is a honkin’ unit, said to make 237 horsepower in proletariat-spec and near 300 horses in fancy-pants Autobiography models. It’ll be paired with JLR’s nine-speed automatic and all-wheel drive.

The next-gen Evoque is expected to appear in 2019, likely with some sort of plug-in hybrid option. Reducing the lineup to a brace of models will allow the company to focus its efforts and finances on the remaining pair.

Related to the Evoque Coupe’s death is the demise of Good Driving, recently found unresponsive on the hard shoulder of L.A’s 405 freeway. Officials declined to speculate on the situation but did mention roving groups of smartphone-wielding drivers, most of whom were found behind the wheel of machines like the Evoque Coupe.

[Image: Jaguar Land Rover]