Range Rover LWB: stretched SUV due in 2014

The Range Rover LWB will debut simultaneously at next month's Los Angeles and Guangzhou auto shows, the latter of which all but confirms the LWB is designed to appeal to the thriving, and heavily chauffeur-driven Chinese market's love of cars with extended rear legroom.

Available in Europe from March and in Australia from the second quarter of 2014, the Range Rover LWB offers an additional 140mm of rear legroom thanks to a body shell lengthened in front of the rear wheels. The wheelbase grows 200mm to 3122mm

Range Rover says "clever packaging" means the luxury SUV’s signature silhouette and floating roof design have been retained to ensure the new model remains instantly recognisable as a Range Rover.

Available with either traditional bench or individual executive seats, the latter of which can be reclined 17 degrees – almost double that of the standard-wheelbase models – for enhanced passenger comfort.

The Range Rover LWB also features electric side door blinds, panoramic sunroof and increased stowage as standard. Distinctive ‘L’ badges are mounted onto the accents beneath the gills behind the front wheel arches.

The Range Rover LWB will be offered in Vogue, Vogue SE, Autobiography and new LWB-exclusive Autobiography Black specifications, with hybrid variants due towards the end of 2014.

Debuting at next week’s Dubai international motor show, the Range Rover Autobiography Black will become Land Rover’s most luxurious specification to date.

Designed and engineered by Jaguar Land Rover’s ‘Engineered to Order’ (ETO) division, the Autobiography Black is visually distinguished by a unique finish to the front grille and side vents, black and chrome badging, chrome tailgate accent, and subtle changes to the tail-lights.

Two new seven-spoke 21- and 22-inch alloy wheel patterns will be exclusive to Autobiography Black variants.

Inside, the Range Rover flagship scores new upholstery and a redesigned centre console that extends to the second row,18-way adjustable electric front seats with climate control and memory and massage functions.

The back of the front seats are fitted with 10.2-inch screens, while electrically deployable rear tables are covered with black leather and feature integrated USB ports and cup holders, and a chiller compartment with additional room for glasses and bottles.

Configurable LED mood lighting allows passengers to set the tone by selecting from 10 colours and vary the intensity. The light is concentrated on the door handles and stowage compartments, in the footwells, and follows the lines of the centre console’s veneer surfaces.

Leather is also uniquely applied to the parcel shelf, lower sections of the A-, B- and C-pillars, upper section of the D-pillar, and the seatbacks, while the door inserts score a perforated leather finish.

The Range Rover Autobiography Black will cost in excess of a quarter of a million dollars in Australia when it arrives in 2015, with the current 5.0-litre V8 Autobiography flagship priced from $239,745.