"We have chosen to launch it in a country outside of China so the media can experience the freedom and fun inherent in the brand and the product," explained Zaky Chan, group account director for the agency behind the launch, Y&R China.
Y&R sidelined the rugged countryside normally associated with Range Rover test drives in favour of a journey from the centre of Bangkok to the suburbs past a selection of some of the city's most striking landmarks in order to give a more cosmopolitan feel to the China debut of the new car, which Land Rover is promoting as a cross between a sports car and an SUV.
Land Rover also used the event to launch its latest Range Rover 2006 nameplate so the Chinese media would be able to compare the two models.
Although the Range Rover remains the flagship model in the Land Rover stable, the carmaker chose to focus its marketing on the Range Rover Sport, Chan explained.
"This is the car we need to introduce because it is totally new," she said.
Land Rover shifts Sport's China roll out to Bangkok
Land Rover has held the China launch of its new hybrid model, the Range Rover Sport, in Bangkok in a bid to emphasise the originality of its latest nameplate to the Chinese media.