EUROPE’S motoring press fell in love with Liverpool so much during Range Rover’s launch of its Halewood-built Evoque last year that they voted it their best car launch of 2011.
The city trumped more, allegedly, glamorous and exotic international locations normally used by motoring manufacturers to showcase their products to win the Advent Automotive Press Awards poll of European motoring writers 2011.
Advent, an auto marketing survey specialist, polls hundreds of journalists to provide feedback for car makers on the media’s perception of their all-important product launches.
Last summer, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) shunned its favoured European locations for journalists to test drive its new model and opted, instead, to invite the motoring press to the Evoque’s home town.
During several weeks, almost 800 journalists from more than 50 countries were flown in to North Wales to drive the Evoque through Snowdonia to Liverpool and, after an overnight stay at Liverpool’s Hope Street Hotel, they continued with a drive through the city, including navigating through a disused rail tunnel from Edge Hill to Wapping, before emerging to tackle an off-road hazard specially built in Dukes Dock.
During their stays, many writers, including London-based motoring journalists, spoke of their surprise at the quality of their experience and the impact the rejuvenated Liverpool had on their perceptions of the city.
The Advent Awards placed the Liverpool launch event first in three out of four categories.
It beat Peugeot and Chevrolet’s launches in France and Switzerland in the “Global European Record” category, with Advent saying: “The Evoque presentation left a strong impression on journalists”.
Evoque beat Peugeot and the Opel Ampera for its quality of test drive conditions, and topped Peugeot and Chevrolet for its “logistics”, or lodgings, catering and organisation.
It trailed Peugeot in second for its quality of speakers during the launch.
A JLR spokesman said: “We knew the Liverpool media launch was something special, and fitting for the award-winning Evoque, and we are delighted with this European award.
“The JLR team, working with a number of Liverpool organisations, worked very hard to ensure that the Evoque launch was a spectacular event and a showcase for both Evoque and Liverpool.”
