Pricing for the Range Rover Evoque convertible has been announced and we had a quick preview of it at the 2016 SA Festival of Motoring.

The Range Rover Evoque is a stylish and capable SUV that has racked up many sales and awards, both locally and internationally. It's easy to understand why, as the Evoque is a smart-looking product with a design that hasn'taged. It also happens to drive rather well and can effortlessly tackle light offroading scenarios.

Then, Range Rover did something controversial with its Evoque. It chopped the roof off and here we have what Range Rover claims, is the world's first luxury offroad convertible. The 2016 SA Festival of Motoring provided a backdrop for a preview of this forthcoming product and Jaguar/Land Rover SA announced some details about it. The Evoque convertible has a fabric roof that folds down in just 18 seconds and can be raised in 21 seconds. The roof mechanism can be deployed at speeds of up to 48 kph. According to JLRSA, the roofdoes not impact on cargo and luggage capacity.

Power comes from the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine boasting outputs of 177 kW and 340 Nm. Power reaches all four wheels through a nine-speed automatic transmission. Despite it being a convertible, JLR is marketing the drop-top Evoque as a capable offroad vehicle and it features 4×4 tech such as Terrain Response system, Wade Sensing and All-Terrain Progress Control.

A photo posted by Cars.co.za (@carssouthafrica) on Aug 31, 2016 at 7:09am PDT

The unit shown at the Festival of Motoring had only just arrived in South Africa. It was in a delivery/inspection mode and the roof was unable to be deployed. It's an interesting vehicle and after chatting to onlookers, opinions were divided. Some think its really unique and different, while others suggest it's a genre of vehicle that shouldn't exist. We look forward to samplingthe new Range Rover Evoque Convertible and will make our own minds up then.

Range Rover Evoque Convertible Price in South Africa

The Range Rover Evoque Convertible officially goes on sale in the middle of October 2016. The range starts from R1 002 400.

Further Reading

Want to purchase a Range Rover Evoque? Browse units for sale here.

Read a review of the Range Rover Evoque

Watch us head across Africa in the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery