Eighty percent of all Land Rovers sold here this year will be diesel-powered, the distributor believes.
So, then, how long before that remaining 20% turns over to the "dark'' side?
Russell Reynolds, acting boss of Auckland-based Motorcorp, smiles at the question, then shakes his head.
"Never. Diesel is clearly identified by New Zealanders as the fuel of choice for SUVs.''
But, he adds, there are some customers who will never transfer their allegiances, for all sorts of reasons. Some because they simply prefer the sheer wallop of a big petrol engine, regardless of the thirst and cost. Some because they don't like handling a smelly fuel.
Whichever side of the forecourt you frequent, Land Rover has the "right'' kind of engines in its updated 2010-issue Discovery, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Vogue models.
On petrol alley, there's a new 5.0-litre V8 in normally aspirated and supercharged forms. And if diesel is your desire, then there's the just-as-fresh 3.0-litre twin turbo V6, book-ended by the old 2.7-litre six at one end, and the Range Rover's 3.6-litre V8 at the other.
They're all good engines, and all good vehicles, but if given the opportunity at launch to take just one home, it'd have to be a 3.0-litre Discovery. It's hard to see how it won't become the dominant model in the family.
The 3.0-litre offers enhanced efficiency and economy over the old 2.7 V6, but above all else, with another 40kW and 160Nm, it is massively more energetic. The recipient Discovery and Range Rover Sport are not insubstantial vehicles, clocking 2.5 and 2.6 tonnes unladen, but both have become proper performers.
It's the torque. There's oodles of muscle from very low down; peak, in fact, is there almost instantly from idle. It's also quieter and smoother.
The midlife makeover has strengthened Land Rover's biggest offerings in other ways.
Just four years into production, the Range Rover Sport is the most affected in a technical sense, having adopted a completely new nose design, a new interior and a heavily revised chassis. The top-hole Vogue gets a technical edge with new-era digital instruments plus the option of a 12-inch touchscreen infotainment system with parallax technology that allows the driver and passenger to view completely different images simultaneously.
But, again, it's the Discovery, even without the top tech tricks, that seems to offer more in (now premium) look and (more dynamic) feel - to the point where traditional distinctions between it and the Range Rover have become blurred. It's a remarkable progression for a model
originally developed as a workhorse.
And if petrol remains a preference? The flagship supercharged 5.0-litre V8, employing a twin-vortex Eaton supercharger, is a stunner. But it also drinks hard and is reserved for the flagship Range Rovers. The normally-aspirated V8 also runs smoothly, but ... no, my favourite is still the new diesel. Sorry.
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