Auto News 5

Most car manufacturers strive to create the ideal conditions for the drive programs where media first get behind the wheel of a new car. Sunny, blue skies, gentle ocean breezes, mild temperatures. Smooth, uncrowded roads, nice and twisty ones if you're unveiling a sports car, perhaps not so serpentine if you're introducing a family sedan. The point is to set the stage to best show off your new product. Having just returned from Morocco, where we drove the all-new, 2013 Range Rover, we can tell you that Land Rover, being Land Rover, chose a different path to launch its range-topping SUV. A rocky, muddy path awash in ocher-colored water it was, with nary a ray of sunshine in sight. Yep, it's the rainy season in Morocco, and we were right in the thick of it in our fleet of mud-encrusted 2013 Range Rovers.