Meet The Woman Behind The Invention Of The Range Rover Evoque Convertible

If you’re building a hot new soft-top car designed with women in mind it helps to have a female boss running the production line.

And that is exactly what Land Rover’s engineering chief, Danella Bagnall, is doing to ensure female customers are properly catered for when the new Range Rover Evoque Convertible hits the tarmac in June.

Initially, Bagnall chaired a women-only committee at the advanced planning stage of the Evoque to ensure the hotly-anticipated four-seater 4×4 catered equally for the needs of single and family-focused female drivers, and wasn’t too biased towards men.

Then, in a masterstroke, she was put in charge of the Evoque Cabriolet’s entire manufacturing process – from paper blueprint to final production.

Indeed, she is Land Rover’s first ever female vehicle programme director and is already making her mark as the driving force behind one of the hottest and most eagerly awaited new cars set to hit showrooms this year – with female buyers and even a princess set to snap one up.

In the process, she’s cut her teeth working on much bigger Range Rovers and racy Jaguar saloons. Every bit of practical design, and every nut, bolt, robot weld and interior part has to pass muster with her.

Following extensive input from female drivers, the Evoque is packed with many ‘female-friendly’ features, designed to make life easier and safer for busy women on the move.

The first pre-production models are going down the line now ahead of the first customer order deliveries set for June – after the car was first unveiled at the Los Angeles motor show in sunny California in November.

With prices starting from £47,500, around 1,500 advance orders have already been taken for the car which officially launches today, after the Daily Mail was given the first chance to get behind the wheel in the French Alps.