Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations go into action

Jaguar and Land Rover have confirmed their joint ambition to start chasing the customers of BMW M, Mercedes AMG and Audi RS with the announcment of a new division: Special Vehicle Operations, or SVO.

The new division has grown out of Jaguar’s exisiting specialised Engineered To Order department, which has created one-offs such as the high-performance XKR-S GT.

The new models will be a mix of individual designs, produced as one-offs, show cars or in very limited production runs (the single-seat F-Type Project 7 being a case in point) or as high-performance production versions of exisiting models. An ultra-high performance RS version of the Range Rover Sport, recently seen undergoing testing at the Nurburgring, is expected to be SVO's first production reveal.

Jaguar Land Rover chief executive Ralf Speth said: “The creation of Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations demonstrates our continued commitment to placing customers at the heart of everything we do. This investment in exciting and desirable products will reinforce the global reputation of both Jaguar and Land Rover brands.”