- Daniel Craig drives the All‑New Range Rover Sport in live reveal through New York
- Manhattan comes to a standstill as spectacular drive closes down the city's streets
- New York is Range Rover Sport's biggest metropolitan market and US its best‑selling country
- The All‑New Range Rover Sport is the fastest, most agile and technology packed Land Rover ever
- British actor stars in short film by acclaimed Hollywood director Jonathan P. B. Taylor
Tonight (March 26), in a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood movie, actor Daniel Craig revealed the all‑new Range Rover Sport as part of a dramatic drive through one of the world's most dynamic cities.
The fastest, most agile and responsive Land Rover to date was put to the test by the British actor, who was entrusted to deliver the vehicle for its first unveiling to the world.
After skilfully handling the car and driving it through closed off streets, Craig delivered the all‑new Range Rover Sport to a packed crowd of guests including Michael Strahan (former American football player and TV Presenter), Yasmin Le Bon (Model), Zara Phillips MBE and Jade Jagger (Designer) at Skylight at Moynihan Stationon 8thAvenue where the vehicle was officially revealed for the first time.
The dynamic and thrilling drive was filmed as part of a short film titled 'The Delivery'. It was broadcast live by Land Rover at www.newrangeroversport.com and saw the British brand stage a global reveal live on the streets of its biggest market.
Directed by action film 2ndunit director Jonathan P B Taylor, lauded for his work on Fast & Furious, Spiderman, Captain America and more recently Die Hard, the film tells the story of a driver tasked with delivering a top secret package. Starting at the Land Rover manufacturing plant in Solihull, UK, the car is shipped under the cover of darkness in a large container over to Manhattan. It is then unveiled and driven expertly through the streets of the city, over Manhattan Bridge and through a closed off tunnel, in a bid by its driver, Daniel Craig, to get it to the launch venue on time.
Craig was attracted to working with Land Rover not only because of his love for the British brand and its vehicles ‑ but also because both he and the brand share a link with the charity S.A.F.E., of which he is a patron. Land Rover, having previously donated a Land Rover Defender to the Kenyan NGO and UK Charity 4 years ago, is delighted to continue its support and is donating an additional vehicle to the charity later this year.
The donated Land Rover will be used by the S.A.F.E. team to assist in accessing hard‑to‑reach areas to educate, inspire and deliver social change. Using accessible, mobile street theatre and community programmes, S.A.F.E.'s team of local professional performers educate their communities on an array of issues, from HIV to female circumcision to safe drinking water. S.A.F.E. Founder Nick Reding attended the event in New York with Craig to talk about the charity and said: "Land Rover has generously given us a vehicle in the past, and this event is a great global platform for us to reach out and talk about our work. Land Rover are helping us get the message about what we do and why it works out to so many more people around the world than we could usually hope for."
Speaking ahead of the official world premiere at the New York International Auto Show, Land Rover Global Brand Director John Edwards said: "The all‑new Range Rover Sport is an extraordinary car and we have revealed it in an extraordinary way ‑ live on the streets of its biggest selling market. It turned heads and it stopped traffic in one of the most dynamic cities in the world.
"The new Range Rover Sport represents a step change in engineering and technology; it is almost half a tonne lighter resulting in significant CO2 savings and it's faster, more agile and more dynamic than ever."
The all‑new Range Rover Sport will go on sale during the third quarter of 2013. Full information including the full film 'The Delivery' is available to view at www.newrangeroversport.com now.
Notes to editors
All‑New Range Rover Sport
Developed alongside the highly‑acclaimed Range Rover, the all‑new Range Rover Sport now delivers the brand's best‑ever on‑road dynamics together with class‑leading, genuine Land Rover all‑terrain capability, while presenting customers with a more assertive and muscular exterior, more luxurious interior and the flexibility provided by the option of occasional 5+2 seating.
Exploiting Land Rover's breakthrough lightweight suspension design and innovative dynamic chassis technologies, the new Sport's all‑new, first‑in‑class aluminium architecture achieves a weight saving of over 500kg (comparing four cylinder petrol with current V8 petrol).
Designed and engineered at Land Rover's development centres in the UK, the new model will be produced in a state‑of‑the‑art low‑energy manufacturing facility at Solihull, UK.
The all‑new Range Rover Sport will ultimately be introduced in 169 markets worldwide.
Jonathan P B Taylor ‑ 2nd Unit Director
Jonathan Taylor has spent a lifetime in the movie business. Starting in the camera department, he rose quickly through the ranks to become a world‑ leading Director, specialising in action unit work. He has worked extensively on over 50 major action movies and has a long‑ standing partnership with action unit Director, Vic Armstrong ‑ best known for his Indiana Jones and James Bond films. Since 2009, Jonathan has performed the role of Director and Director of Photography in the action units for all the films Armstrong has worked on. Jonathan created the storyboard and co‑ordinated the whole Monaco sequence for Iron Man 2, and conceived and directed all the complex action sequences for Captain America. In the recent Die Hard movie, Jonathan ran the complete action unit responsible for all the major set pieces. Jonathan was also responsible for major action scenes in Fast and Furious, and the iconic 'fight on the train ' scene in Spiderman.
S.A.F.E.
S.A.F.E. is a Kenyan NGO and UK charity that uses the performing arts and community programmes to educate, inspire and deliver social change. S.A.F.E. works in Kenya as three teams: S.A.F.E. Pwani in Mombasa and Coast Province; S.A.F.E. Ghetto in the Nairobi slums, Rift Valley and Central Kenyan highlands; and S.A.F.E. Maa with the Maasai of the Loita Hills.
More about S.A.F.E.'s work can be found at www.safekenya.org and on twitter @safe_kenya.
ENDS
Laura Hind
Account Director
The Brooklyn Brothers
+44 207 292 6200 / +44 791 710 8187
laurahind@thebrooklynbrothers.com
Lucy Reynolds
UK PR Manager
Land Rover
+44 1926 649280 / +44 780 169 9928
Sarah Kennedy
Development Director
S.A.F.E.
+44 759 546 8372
