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Rishi Sunak, the youngest Prime Minister of United Kingdom, is also the first Indian-origin to take up the job. Sunak's appointment in a symbolic moment for India, a country British had colonised for centuries in the past. Social media was abuzz with Sunak taking oath as new UK PM as testimony to how fate has reversed for UK and India. He rode to Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street on Tuesday in a Range Rover SUV, his official car as long as he serves his post. Range Rover, the iconic British luxury car brand, was on verge of collapse when India's Tata Motors bought it and turned it around.
The Range Rover SUV used by Rishi Sunak is part of UK Prime Minister's official ride. Boris Johnson, former UK Prime Minister, has included the custom-made blast and bullet-proof Land Rover Sentinel in the fleet during his tenure. The UK PM's fleet usually includes a fleet of armoured Range Rover Sentinel SUVs, escorted by Range Rover and Land Rover Discovery SUVs. Earlier, UK PMs used Jaguar XJ model as their official car.
The model currently used for UK prime ministers is a bullet-proof off-road Range Rover Abio Sentinel SUV. According to the carmaker, the SUV is “Designed to withstand the most damaging and targeted of threats, including penetration by 7.62 mm high velocity armor piercing incendiary bullets, this exceptional vehicle delivers lateral protection against up to 33 lbs Trinitrotoluene (TNT) blasts and defence against DM51 grenade explosions from both beneath the floor and above the roof."
The SUV also comes with several other safety and comfort features like a hidden escape hatch, anti-tamper exhaust and multi-laminated armoured privacy glass. The SUV has enough space inside to accommodate seven people. The seats have an Intelligent Fold technology that allows backseat occupants to fold them with the help of an app. The SUV also allows up to eight devices to be connected to 4G Wi-Fi. It also offers as many as nine USB charging points.