Range Rover : Autobiography Ultimate Edition to debut in Geneva

Clive Goldthorp

Range Rover will unveil a new flagship model, the Autobiography Ultimate Edition, at next month’s Geneva Motor Show. The production run will be restricted to 500 units which be sold on a customer order only basis in more than 20 markets globally and be offered with either a 4.4 litre V8 diesel or a 5.0 litre Supercharged V8.

The standard Range Rover’s rear cabin has been completely redesigned and now features two standalone electric rear seats and an extended centre console which includes a machines aluminum laptop table and a drinks chiller. The back of each front seat now incorporates an Apple iPad. The Autobiography Ultimate Edition’s rear load deck has a super yacht-like teak floor with metal and leather detailing while the seats are of semi-analine leather and Kalahari wood veneers are used for the facia and door cappings.

Two unique colours will be available – Roussillon Red and Otago Stone – while other distinguishing exterior features include 20in multi-spoke diamond-turned alloy wheels in additon to a smoked radiator grille and side vents.

The price will be announced when the Autobiography Ultimate Edition goes on sale later this year but Auto Express reckons that the model will start from £120.000 while Autocar predicts a figure of “around £130,000.”

However, the Autobiography Ultimate Edition will probably be the current Range Rover’s swansong as the all-new MY13 Range Rover Mk4 seems set to be unveiled publically late next year – Autocar has, in fact, now obtained some scoop photographs of the new model – codenamed L405 – and these can be viewed by following this link to Hilton Holloway’s All-new Range Rover Mk4 scooped article on the magazine’s website.

Clive Goldthorp

26 Comments

  1. Oh, so this new edition is called the Autobiography Ultimate Edition, is it? Sadly, as much as I love Range Rovers (and, no, I can’t afford one), including the current generation model, I think this latest edition reinforces my earlier sentiments on this website over the mismanagement of the Autobiography name.

    Until 2 years ago, that name was the preserve of bespoke Range Rovers and the occasional limited edition derivative built by Land Rover Special Vehicles.However, now the name adorns their line-built flagship variant that does not have bespoke features, thus diluting the Autobiography name’s kudos and exclusivity.

    Land Rover therefore has to resort to calling this new edition the ‘Ultimate Edition’, to emphasise that the Autobiography name alone is no longer the ultimate in exclusivity.

    I hope it sells, but what will Land Rover call a sequel model: the Autobiography Ultimate X?

  2. @David 3500
    I have to agree – I always thought the ‘Autobiography’ were supposed to be relatively bespoke, that being a unique, virtually custom-built car to the customer’s own individual requirements.

    This feels a bit mainstream and as though someone is telling you what you should have rather than making your own choice, which was the original Autobiography brief.

    I think that, if I was loaded and could afford a custom-built Rangie, I would have a suitable sensible colour with all the gadgets and gizmos that I felt would make my driving experience a discrete and pleasant one.

    I would have a G4-spec Range Rover!

  3. Didn’t the same thing happen with the ‘Vogue’ name when they launched it as a special edition inthe early 1980s?

  4. @Jonathan Carling
    I was going to say the same thing – at one time in the early 1980s, a RR Vogue was very bespoke especially in Gold (I think the other Vogue was light blue) but then the Green Wellies got them and just about all RRs were Vogues. I had a Green Vogue SE 3.9 V8 for a couple of years – it was great but not very bespoke.

  5. They’re only making 500… I think we can let them use the name, can’t we? It’s not like they’re a standard model with some wheels and special leather…

  6. Whatever the name or the abuse of its “moniker” – it’s British (for the time being) and nothing comes close in class or percieved image.

    Good luck to ’em.

  7. Adrian :
    It’s rumoured that, many years ago, people used to buy Range Rovers in order to drive off road…

    Nah, you can’t buy drugs or sawn-off shotguns in the country!

  8. I think Land Rover are missing a marketing opportunity here and should re-christen this edition ‘Gangsta’ or ‘Footballa’. Maybe they should then follow that up with a new top of the range model – the ‘Essex’.

  9. People shouldn’t knock this Range Rover. It’s a British-built car that will pay lots of people’s wages, and it’s been top-of-the-class for forty years. I wish it every success.

  10. What’s sad is that the comments go a fair way to giving an honest representation of the public’s perception of the Range Wooney.

  11. Doug :
    People shouldn’t knock this Range Rover. It’s a British-built car that will pay lots of people’s wages, and it’s been top-of-the-class for forty years. I wish it every success.

    I am not knocking the Range Rover – I have long been an enthusiast of the model and even run the historical Register for the 25th Anniversary Final Edition derivatives. No other premium off-road vehicle has the same appeal to me, despite the fact there are some excellent rivals out there.

    My issue is simply with how the once exclusive Autobiography moniker has been brand managed in the last few years, whereby it has lost some of its bespoke kudos. I, too, hope that this latest edition sells, as the customer base is far more comprehensive than current perceptions imply. After all, as you say, it is also a British-designed and built vehicle which helps maintain skilled manufacturing jobs in the West Midlands.

  12. Land Rover are only jealous because the four-ringed knuckleheads in Germany charge over £100k for their top-flight Chelsea Tractor, the Q7 V12 TDi. They want a slice of the Rooney’s cash… Options include onyx trim, horrid ‘crystal’ decanters and a Burberry interior..

  13. Land Rover is a business and is ultimately there to make their masters (in this case Tata Motors Limited) money.

    I think the Autobiography Ultimate Edition’s as glitzy as hell and as tasteful as Kerry Katona but I can’t blame Land Rover for offering increasingly upmarket models and I suspect this is an indicator as to where Range Rover will sit during the next model’s lifecycle.

    Currently, the Discovery 4 is very close to Range Rover so they need to add some distance and exclusivity to justify the prices of the next-generation car.

    Is this the way we want Land Rover to go? Probably not, but it’s doing something Land Rover failed to do to any great degree in the past – make money! Money they can invest in more relevant models that we might buy!

  14. It’s so disappointing to see the Range Rover descend further into the depths of the vulgar and clueless.

    Actually, it’s difficult now to spec one that doesn’t look like a first-generation immigrant’s wet dream – the MY2010 facelift is terrible.

    How did Land Rover forget their core market? The townie fashion-followers and lease finance/mortgage equity removal buyers won’t be around forever and I’m sure pimps and dealers are fickle.

    I fear that, once the new Range Rover has been built to suit Chinese and Indian new-money, we can look forward to Tata ruining the Defender by turning it into some stupid lifestyle accessory to be bought by people you want to shoot.

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