It was great to see JLR on the up and up in Paris. The new Discovery 5 is unsurprisingly a premium effort and will no doubt continue the model’s capable lineage; whether it’s on or off road. The question is though, is it too luxurious?
With prices ranging from £43,495 to £65,695, the latest Discovery is treading on the toes of the £59,700 Range Rover Sport. Admittedly both are likely to appeal to slightly different customers, albeit both with deep pockets.
The real interest for me will be the arrival of the new Defender in 2019, a model that will form the basis of Land Rover’s new ‘dual purpose’ range of cars, (with Discovery models sitting in the ‘leisure’ category and Range Rovers occupying the ‘luxury’ end). Defender models should return more utility based Land Rovers into the range.
Certain design elements of previous Discovery’s have made it to the new model including the interior’s stadium seating that affords rear seat passengers with a clearer view ahead. The Discovery’s rear end also keeps its asymmetrical design; a feature that’s been part of every model since its introduction in 1989.