WHAT CAR AWARDS - Land Rover cleans up with five, yes FIVE awards.

• New Discovery Sport honoured with prestigious Safety Award
• Range Rover Sport SDV6 HSE named best large SUV for a second consecutive year and a “best buy” Price Point winner in £40,000-plus category
• Range Rover Evoque sustains its award-winning pedigree as a Price Point winner among small SUVs
• Range Rover 3.0 TDV6 Vogue SE claims a further Price Point commendation for Land Rover in the Luxury Car category

The New Discovery Sport leads a supreme performance by Land Rover in the What Car? Car of the Year Awards, honoured with the Safety Award for its unmatched provision of advanced systems to protect both those on board and pedestrians.

The award establishes Discovery Sport’s entry into the compact SUV segment with its ground-breaking packaging, advanced engineering and its ingenious 5+2 interior configuration within a compact vehicle footprint.

The enduring strength of the Land Rover range is reflected in the Range Rover Sport SDV6 HSE being named the best large SUV for the second year running and earning a What Car? Price Point “best buy” win in its price bracket.

A strong combination of quality and value secured a further Price Point win for the Range Rover Evoque SD4 Pure Tech in the small SUV class. The Range Rover 3.0 TDV6 Vogue SE cemented its superiority among luxury vehicles priced over £70,000.

Murray Dietsch, Director of Land Rover Programmes, said: “Winning this award provides Discovery Sport with valuable, independent validation of its exceptional quality and ability. It reflects the extreme lengths we go to, to ensure safety provisions go beyond what is required, and what customers expect.

“Safety was a fundamental priority in the development of Discovery Sport as a true family vehicle. This award rewards the no-compromise, pioneering work we have invested in the model.”

Jeremy Hicks, Jaguar Land Rover UK Managing Director, commented: “These awards further strengthen the prospects for Discovery Sport ahead of its market introduction while at the same time reinforcing the class-leading qualities presented across the Land Rover range.

“Range Rover Sport remains pre-eminent in its class and our continuous improvement of Range Rover Evoque is sustaining its award-winning quality three years on from its launch. At the top of the market, Range Rover remains a formidable performer in delivering bespoke luxury and exceptional performance capabilities.” 

Discovery Sport – Safety Award

Discovery Sport’s Safety Award rewards the significant achievement Land Rover has made in delivering effective, advanced safety systems as standard. Raising the benchmark in its class, new Discovery Sport affords vehicle occupants and pedestrians exceptional protection, qualities that have already been independently recognised with a maximum five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash testing.

In its appraisal of Discovery Sport, What Car? declared: “Most impressive is how far Land Rover has gone beyond the required standards for a five-star NCAP rating. Adult protection is rated as the second highest score of the year, child and pedestrian protection are highly credible and the safety assist rating dwarfs that of rivals.”

Discovery Sport benefits from intelligent use of advanced technologies for safer driving, including the adoption of Autonomous Emergency Braking as a standard feature across the range. Using a digital stereo camera, this recognises and alerts the driver to potential collision hazards ahead, engaging emergency braking if needed to avoid or reduce the consequences of an impact. As a first-in-class feature for a small SUV, Discovery Sport is also available with a pedestrian airbag as standard, deploying automatically from the rear upper section of the bonnet.

The suite of active and passive safety systems is comprehensive, including Dynamic Stability Control, Electronic Traction Control, Roll Stability Control, Anti-lock Braking Systems, Reverse Traffic Detection, Emergency Brake Lights, Lane Departure Warning and Seatbelt Reminders.

Range Rover Sport – Best Large SUV and Price Point winner

Range Rover Sport, specifically the SDV6 HSE, has taken the title of Best Large SUV for the second year running, reaffirming its class-leading quality and performance. In making the award, What Car? said: “The Range Rover Sport may look pricey next to alternatives such as the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz ML, but you know the minute you get in that it utterly warrants its price. If you've got the money, the Rangie is really in a class of its own.”

It also highlighted the “sprightly acceleration” of the engine, the comprehensive specification of the HSE model and the all-round driving rewards it delivers.

For 2015, Range Rover Sport has adopted further innovations and improvements, including the introduction of All-Terrain Progress Control, a system that allows automatic vehicle speed control when negotiating steep gradients and rough or low-grip surfaces. Useful technology also extends to a new Head-Up Display which projects principal vehicle performance information on to the lower windscreen in the driver’s eyeline.

Range Rover Sport’s strong appeal is reflected in over half a million global sales since its introduction in 2005.

Range Rover Evoque – Small SUV Price Point winner

Evoque marked a watershed for Land Rover and for the SUV market when it made its market debut three years ago. Its arrival was greeted with global acclaim and awards – more than 160 to date, and counting. It has quickly progressed to become Land Rover’s biggest-selling model, its appeal strengthened with the addition of new technical features.

What Car? selected the new Pure Tech grade as the “best buy” model at a price point above £22,000, highlighting its “impressive” and “attractive” features such as such as navigation, automatic headlights, headlight power-washers, a heated windscreen, rain-sensing wipers and front parking sensors.

Key developments that have helped keep Evoque one of the most cutting-edge cars in its class – include Land Rover’s InControl Apps, providing enhanced and easy access to journey planning and information services; rear-seat entertainment systems; a world-first laser-based Head-Up Display; and a nine-speed automatic transmission.

Range Rover – Luxury Car Price Point winner

What Car? singled out the Range Rover 3.0 TDV6 Vogue SE as a “best buy” in the marketplace for luxury cars in the £70,000 to £100,000 price range. Its success is indicative of how Land Rover has kept pace with global customers’ increasingly sophisticated and diverse tastes, providing a wealth of personalisation opportunities that combine individuality with the highest quality materials and craftsmanship.  All this is achieved without compromising its exceptional all-terrain performance.

What Car? considers the Range Rover to be a unique proposition, describing it as “the only luxury car with real go-anywhere potential” and a status symbol that is “at home parked up in a South Kensington side street as it is on a gravel drive of a country estate”.

While the Vogue SE provides an impressive specification, Land Rover’s attention to detail extends to even more exclusive options in the Range Rover Autobiography and Autobiography Black.