The Range Rover choice is yours

The Range Rover Sport TD V6 has brought new luxury SUV buyers to Land Rover.

Land Rover importer Motorcorp Distributors has made the price of comparable diesel and petrol-engined models the same.

"We have made it a simple choice between the two fuels," says Wallis Dumper, managing director of Motorcorp Distributors.

Until now, the price of a petrol-engined Discovery, Range Rover or Range Rover Sport was more expensive than its diesel-engined equivalent.

The prices of the petrol models have been reduced while diesel models have increased slightly.

"The specification levels in both vehicles are the same," says Dumper. "It is simply a matter of buyers choosing whether they want to put petrol or diesel in the fuel tank."

The Discovery3 Turbo diesel V6 SE and the petrol V8 SE are both priced at $94,990. A Range Rover Sport TD V6 and its petrol V8 equivalent have a $129,990 price tag, while the flagship Range Rover Vogue with either a TD V6 or the V8 will cost $179,990.

Since its launch, the Range Rover Sport has taken over the mantle of the biggest-selling luxury SUV in the New Zealand market.

"It has brought a number of new luxury SUV buyers to Land Rover," says Dumper.

"Rather than coming to the brand via our price-leading models, they are buying their first Land Rover product nearer the top of our price ladder." The Defender 90 and 110 station wagon models have also experienced an upsurge in interest.

"Its minimalist design has become trendy for city users," says Dumper. "The Defender traces its origins directly back to the original 1948 Land Rover and obviously that has some appeal, like the new Mini and new Golf with their retro styling."

Land Rover had its best quarter of sales worldwide to the end of last month.

That performance has been reflected in New Zealand, where for the first three months of the year dealers sold 171 Land Rovers, compared with 100 last year.

Demand for the Range Rover Sport continues to exceed supply.

Land Rover's storming start to the year continued in March with the company's best single month's performance in its history and third successive record-breaking month overall.

This also marked the best quarter for the off-road specialist and most successful sales spell since Land Rover was bought by Ford in 2000.

Last month, Land Rover sold 23,453 vehicles globally, a 23 per cent rise on the previous year.

Range Rover Sport continued to lead the sales success and is now the company's best-selling model, with nearly 15,000 sold worldwide this year so far.