This week we are celebrating a very special birthday at Halewood.
It’s exactly ten years since the first Range Rover Evoque rolled off the production line at Halewood.
It’s fair to say that the Evoque changed everything for us. It is the fastest selling Land Rover of all time which pioneered the luxury SUV market and transformed the financial fortunes of our business.
In celebration of this incredible milestone, Team Talk has pulled together 10 terrific facts about our award-winning car, which we are proud to say is made in Merseyside, by our people!
The first Evoque built was a 3 Door Evoque Prestige, right-hand drive-in Fuji White
The launch of the Evoque was one of the most fascinating, resurgent manufacturing stories in the UK for a generation, where production and workforce at Halewood tripled following its arrival.
Boxing legend, Anthony Joshua, visited Halewood in March 2019 to congratulate the Halewood workforce on the launch of the second generation Evoque- he even let slip his sister drove an Evoque!
Zara Phillips, was the first person in the UK to take delivery of a Range Rover Evoque, a 5-Door Stornoway Grey model with a 2.2 litre engine.
The Evoque was such a hit with our customers that it received 20,000 pre-orders worldwide!
Halewood built its first convertible Evoque on 30 March 2016- also in Fuji White- which was sold to a customer in Germany!
The Evoque is the most decorated Land Rover of all time with more than 100 awards to its name.
Halewood employee, John Williams, a production supervisor on our Customer Acceptance Line (CAL), was one of the first people to test drive the Evoque. John said: “I was a Drive Team Product Coach at the time so went out with the Midlands Launch Quality team to test drive the new car, which was a great privilege. I remember we were followed by the automotive paparazzi who were taking pictures of us all!”
The 500,000th Evoque was built on the 16 February 2016, a left-hand drive 5 Door model, which went to a customer in sunny Mallorca!
To date, we have built over 884,638 Evoques at Halewood!
“I was a Drive Team Product Coach at the time so went out with the Midlands Launch Quality team to test drive the new car, which was a great privilege. I remember we were followed by the automotive paparazzi who were taking pictures of us all!”