Calling on history to make a modern point
When you tell your golfing buddies that you’ve just come back from the launch of the Range Rover Velar, they ask, “What sort of name is that?”
A new entry-level Range Rover Velar is set to be the model Kiwi motorists can better afford.
The 2L Velar P250, powered by the latest petrol-fuelled Ingenium engine, will go on sale in New Zealand later this month with a starting price of $114,900 + orc.
That’s $20,000 less than the 3L version and, for the first 35 vehicles sold, it comes with a free R-Design style pack upgrade. The price is expected to be well received; it mirrors the strategy used with the Range Rover Evoque 2L model.
The P250 has similar specifications to the 3L model, with only 100kg difference in the braked towing capacity of 2400kg. Performance-wise, the P250 Velar’s 185kW/365Nm engine accelerates the car from 0-100km in 6.7 seconds and offers up to 6.7L/100km fuel economy.
It won the World Car Design of the Year title at the 2018 World Car Awards, dubbed the most beautifully designed vehicle on the planet.
The RR Velar comes with optional Kvadrat designed seats covered with an environmentally friendly fabric that combines a NZ Merino wool blend with faux suede made from recycled plastic bottles.
The P250 Velar will come standard with the latest in entertainment and safety technology and safety systems that include remote access from the InControl app. This allows the owner to lock and unlock the vehicle, check the fuel tank level or see where the vehicle is parked using a smartphone or smartwatch. It also enables remote engine starts and climate control setting.
And there’s more: SOS Emergency call technology with automatic collision detection and optimised assistance. In an emergency, an SOS call tells the emergency service the vehicle’s location. In the event of a breakdown, optimised assistance transmits a GPS location and diagnostics data to a recovery company.
Meat Industry Association data, released alongside the Red Meat Sector conference in Wellington, shows export value climbing across the US, China, UK and Canada.
Applications are set to open for the 2027 Zanda McDonald Award, a trans-Tasman award recognised for identifying and fast-tracking talented young leaders in agriculture and agribusiness.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.

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