JLR has revealed a bold new logo for the Range Rover brand, as it prepares to launch the luxury SUV marque's first electric model later this year.

Appearing in a recent presentation to investors, the new emblem – featuring a pair of Rs in the brand's trademark minimalist, wide-set font – is the first designed for Range Rover since it launched its original car in 1970. 

JLR told Autocar, however, that the new badge is not intended to replace the spelled-out 'Range Rover' script that has adorned the front and rear of each Range Rover model since the brand's launch. 

"The Range Rover Motif has been developed as a smaller symbol for where our familiar Range Rover device mark does not fit, such as on a label or as part of a repeating pattern, and within event spaces where an emblem is more appropriate," it said. 

Range Rover has been split out as one of four JLR sub-brands – alongside Jaguar, Discovery and Defender – as part of the company's House of Brands strategy, wherein each of those four model lines is operated as its own business, with their own bespoke branding, positioning and marketing strategies.

Jaguar has already revealed its new-era branding as part of the Type 00 concept unveiling, but Defender and Discovery have yet to receive their own bespoke badges. 

As part of this strategy, the Land Rover name will take on a new role as a 'trust mark', the company has said, meaning it will continue to be used in reference to the drivetrains and technology in the company's SUVs but will no longer be pitched so overtly as the parent marque.

Nonetheless, CEO Adrian Mardell has previously emphasised that Land Rover will remain an integral part of JLR's operations and its name will continue to feature on the cars. "I really want to reiterate and put this on record that the Land Rover mark will remain," he said, following the unveiling of the House of Brands strategy. 

"Among its many attributes, Land Rover is rightly synonymous with off-road credentials, with technology capabilities, with significant and huge safety features. It is still integral to our business. It will remain visible on our vehicles. It will remain on our websites, in social media and at our retail sites."

Range Rover's new motif, then, is unlikely to replace the offset Land Rover oval that has been a distinguishing feature of every Range Rover model since the original. 

The logo was revealed alongside a dedicated 'Range Rover pattern' (below) - a checkered design that includes the new 'R' design as a central element.

It is unclear how this will be used, but one possibility is that the pattern is used prominently on Range Rovers – perhaps for the grille or interior upholstery – as a means of differentiating the cars from more mainstream Land Rover models.