JLR drives forward with plans to produce world's first soft-top SUV

Although the car will be made alongside other Range Rover Evoques at Halewood, Merseyside, news last week that the new Evoques will be fitted with Wolverhampton-made Ingenium diesels means the new car is likely to come with Black Country engines as well.

As more of JLRs cars start taking the new engines – they are already due to be fitted in the new Land Rover Discovery Sport and the Jaguar XE – it could accelerate recruitment at the company's £500 million engine manufacturing plant on the i54 site – on the outskirts of Wolverhampton – where about 1,400 staff will eventually work.

The latest car has been put through its paces in strictly underground conditions – Land Rover was granted exclusive access to the 26-mile network of Crossrail tunnels, 130 feet beneath the streets of London.

The underground Crossrail network will connect the City, Canary Wharf, the West End and Heathrow Airport to commuter areas east and west of the capital.

Engineers were allowed the opportunity to drive the disguised Evoque Convertible with its roof lowered in complete privacy.

A short film has been made and released by JLR showing the highly-capable convertible being lowered into the tunnel network by crane, before negotiating a range of obstacles through the 6.2 metre diameter tunnel.

Murray Dietsch, director of Land Rover programmes, said: "The tunnels are still under construction, so we had a unique opportunity to explore the vehicle's all-terrain ability in unchartered territory."

The Range Rover Evoque is no stranger to subterranean adventure. At its launch in 2011 the five-door variant was driven through Edge Hill Tunnel, Liverpool – the first tunnel in the world to be bored beneath a major city. The confirmation of the vehicle comes as JLR makes a splash at this year's Geneva Motor Show, Switzerland.