By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos

Among the annual “big” international auto shows, stereotypically, the Los Angeles gig is about “green” cars, the Detroit circus is about “power”, the Geneva salon is about “exotics” and the New York event focuses on “traditional American luxury.” And while both Cadillac (with its new 2014 CTS) and Buick (with its refreshed Regal and LaCrosse) will be showing off new versions of their traditional American luxury sedans, the relatively fresh genre of crossovers will dominate the debuts during this week's Big Apple media days.

By Autoweek

The redesigned Land Rover Range Rover Sport luxury SUV is headed for a world debut at the New York auto show on March 26. On Monday Land Rover provided a first look — albeit blurry — at the new SUV.

The new Range Rover Sport will likely weigh less than the current model as it adopts the aluminum chassis used by the redesigned 2013 Range Rover, which debuted at the 2012 Paris motor show in September. The platform, known as Premium Lightweight Architecture (PLA), uses bonding and riveting to join the frame components. The PLA platform is also used by sister company Jaguar for the XJ sedan.

The blurred teaser photo provides clues that the Range Rover Sport will carry a least a hint of styling cues from the popular Range Rover Evoque, including a windshield that wraps around to the A-pillars, a roofline that slopes downward toward the hatch and blacked-out pillars above the beltline.

By Jake Lingeman, AutoWeek

Jaguar and Land Rover will debut three new vehicles at the LA Auto Show later this month. The Jaguar XFR-S will join the new F-Type in Black Pack trim and the 2013 Range Rover.

The Jaguar XFR-S is said to be the fastest sedan the company has ever produced, with only 200 available for the U.S. market. We assume the XFR-S will sport the same supercharged V8 as in the XKR-S, making 550 hp and 502 lb.-ft. of torque. We doubt adding a few doors to the equation will make the powertrain any less fun.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Although the excellent Evoque has big fans of both genders, the smallest Range Rover is now officially the Women's World Car of the Year. Female auto writers from 12 countries - including Canada - are polled annually for their choices, and this year the Evoque took the top prize beating out the BMW 3 Series and Audi Q3.

The overall winners were chosen from the top-three vote-getters in four categories (Economy Car, Family Car, Luxury Car and Sports Car) and included other favourites including the revised Ford Focus, the tiny Volkswagen Up and elegant Jaguar XJ. The four category winners were the Evoque (Luxury), 3 Series (Family), Honda Civic (Economy) and Porsche 911 (Sports).

Apparently, while the Evoque was a clear winner from early on, the Bimmer and Audi were neck-and-neck as the accounting proceeded.

Last year's voting was even closer and actually ended up in a dead heat: both the BMW 5 Series and Citroen DS3 were named co-champions. The Evoque is actually the second time the WWCOTY jury has singled out the Indian-owned British brand since the Jaguar XF was chosen as the inaugural winner back in 2008.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

When Range Rover introduced the stylish Evoque with a new turbocharged four-cylinder engine, we figured it wouldn't be long before Land Rover's more traditional cousin would benefit too. Turns out it only took a year as the 2013 LR2 will exclusively use the same direct-injection 240-horsepower 2.0-litre turbo, replacing the aging 3.2-litre inline-six. Gains are about 10 horsepower and 16 lb-ft of torque, along with reportedly better gas mileage.

Even though the LR2 will have a hotter engine, it's now even more capable in the rough thanks to a smarter six-speed automatic transmission, and a full-time four-wheel drive system. The system nominally keeps most of the power sent to the front axle, but can quickly move that ratio farther back pretty quickly. All LR2s also come with Terrain Response, which controls the engine, transmission, traction and stability control to customize how they operate based on the conditions. There are presets for regular driving, one for slipperier conditions like grass or snow, another for mud and ruts, and a final one for sand. 

The exterior's been cleaned up with new LED lights front and rear, along with a revised grille and gloss-black fender vents. A whole range of new wheel designs from 17- to 19-inches are available too.

Land Rover replaced the LR2's console with something significantly more modern, including a seven-inch touch screen that gives access navigation and audio systems, while another smaller screen sits between the main gauges in the instrument panel. 

The 2013 LR2 is available now for $39,990 while full-blown HSE LUX models start at $48,190.

So which related 'Rover would you choose: Evoque or updated LR2?

By Diana T. Kurylko, AutoWeek

The redesigned 2013 Range Rover SUV goes on sale in the U.S. market in December featuring a sharply lighter body, improved fuel economy and better handling.

The five-seat Range Rover has an all-aluminum unibody structure--a first for an SUV, Land Rover said.

The body is 39 percent lighter than the steel-bodied 2012 Range Rover. Land Rover said the U.S.-specific model with a 5.0-liter V8 engine is 700 pounds lighter than the current model. Range Rover said performance and fuel economy will improve but did not provide more specific information.

Pricing will be disclosed in September.

By Jake Lingeman, AutoWeek

“Life is valuable—protect it.”

That's the pithy motto of the Texas Armoring Corp. (TAC) in San Antonio. It builds about 200 armored vehicles per year for foreign diplomats and other high-ranking individuals.

TAC can covert big sedans, SUVs and even sports cars into armored carriers that can withstand assaults from terrorists, criminals and your run-of-the-mill kidnappers.

One of the company's newest finished vehicles is this plain-looking Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged SUV. TAC prides itself on keeping the look of the vehicles stock.

The conversion only added 1,400 pounds to the curb weight of the SUV, which keeps the handling feeling like stock and the ride height looking stock. For this vehicle, the company didn't need to call its engine partner in Texas, Hennessey Performance. If you need a bigger SUV, with more armor, you might need to upgrade to one of Hennessey's 800- or 1,000-hp engines.

This particular Range Rover was built for a client in Africa. Ballistic protection in the doors, roof and glass can stop a bullet from an AK-47, an M16 and even a sniper's .308. The undercarriage is covered in explosive-resistant material that can withstand a grenade, even one placed right under the gas tank.

That same tank can also withstand a bullet, even when it punctures the outer skin. The inside of the tank is coated with a resin liner that not only prevents explosion, but will seal back up when a bullet pierces it.

“Even if that [standard] tank doesn't explode,” said Jason Forston, vice president of TAC, “you'll be out of fuel, and it won't matter.”

The Range Rover was equipped with about $200,000 worth of protective equipment. Beyond the protection in the doors, TAC adds run-flat tires, upgraded wheels that can withstand blasts and electrified door handles.

If a stationary altercation becomes a car chase, the TAC-equipped Rover does its best SpyHunter impression with tire spikes and a smoke screen from the rear.

Though many of its products go overseas, lately TAC has had more business from this side of the Atlantic.

“Our business used to be 99 percent foreign and 1 percent American,” Forston said. “Since the economy has been down, we've seen our United States business double every year for the last three or four [years].”

Check out the video of the guys from TAC taking you through the features of the Range Rover, and if you can figure out a way to get through the defenses, let us know in the Comments section.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

The folks over at Ward's Auto are better known for their annual of 10-best engines list, but last year decided to pool their expertise and choose the best new-vehicle interiors in a similar manner. The company evaluated over 40 new or significantly improved models in a broad range of prices and eventually whittled that down to 10.

The interiors were judged not only on material use and fit-and-finish, but also on ergonomics, safety, value and aesthetics.

Here are Ward's picks in alphabetical order:

- Audi A7
- Chevrolet Sonic
- Chrysler 300 Luxury
- Dodge Dart
- Hyundai Accent
- Hyundai Azera
- Infiniti JX35
- Mazda CX-5
- Range Rover Evoque
- Volkswagen Beetle

Looking at the press release, it's easy to see that Ward's Auto were reviewing vehicles that were near the top of the vehicle range. However, given our own experience with most of the winners, we'd be hard-pressed to argue with the results without a full list of the other 30 cars, crossovers, SUVs and trucks that Ward's used for comparison. The only winning vehicle we don't get in Canada is the Chrysler 300 Luxury, which is essentially a Lancia-ized 300C designed for Europe with unique, more-expensive two-tone leather and satin wood trim.

So what do you think? Do you disagree with Ward's selections? Is there another vehicle you think got unfairly ignored? It's pretty amazing to think that the photo above of a 2012 Hyundai Accent is from a vehicle that can be had for less than $14,000. Let us know in the comments.

By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos Canada

When you’re in the car-recommending business like yours truly, there are certain “gold standard” brands you can count on when doling out new car buying advice. Want a sports car? Go get a Porsche? Want a pickup? Try a Ford F-Series. Want a fun-to-drive sedan? Can’t go wrong with a BMW. Want a serious off-roading sports-utility-vehicle? Land Rover is my pick. Or at least it was. You see, with the now-Indian-owned brand looking to expand sales with more “soft-roaders”, the once go-to brand for luxury off-roading may be getting a wee bit, well, “soft”.

By Davey G. Johnson, AutoWeek

To bend a quote from the little green sage of Dagobah, “Begun, the CrossCab wars have.”

When Carlos Ghosn shepherded the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet to production, many questioned the need for a lifted, AWD Jacuzzi. And while we haven't run across too many in our corner of California, we can confirm that driving around the festivities surrounding the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance last year, the convertible Murano attracted as much attention as anything else on the Monterey Peninsula. Even the most jaded parking attendants flipped over the wacky ute.

Apparently, Land Rover was smitten with the concept as well, because it is dropping a convertible iteration of the Evoque at the Geneva motor show.

Since one of the oft-repeated derisive phrases about the CrossCab is, “It looks like a concept car that should've stayed a concept,” and one of the most hoary plaudits given the Evoque is that it resembles a concept car made production-car flesh, it stands to reason that Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern might consider an Evoque décapotable to be a potentially desirable line extension if he felt that he could nail the execution.

Land Rover's engineers say that 165 pounds of additional bracing would be required to stiffen the small luxury ute for drop-top duty, as well as about two years of R&D to get things just so. With 50,000 Evoques produced and orders for 60,000 more, the company is looking to gauge reaction to the drophead. If interest is low, it doesn't feel the need to divert production capacity for a niche model.

However, if it's a smash hit, the convertible Evoque could bust the open-air CUV microsegment wide open. After all, nothing improves the breed like competition. We'll be waiting for the BMW X6 M cabrio.