According to Autocar, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is planning a significant overhaul of the Discovery brand for its upcoming sixth generation. The goal is to reposition the Discovery into its own unique territory.
The Discovery, the oldest model in the JLR lineup, has faced declining sales due to the popularity of the Defender. The Discovery nameplate has been around since 1989, and the latest generation of the Discovery was launched in 2016 and received a facelift in 2020. According to JLR, a significant revamp of the Discovery is required since its sales is currently cannibalised by the Defender.
The Discovery, despite being part of the JLR lineup, has underperformed in sales compared to its sibling, the Discovery Sport. Last year, the Discovery recorded only 16,750 units sold globally, almost half the Discovery Sport’s sales figures.
Despite accounting for only 4% of JLR sales, the Discovery model will continue to be part of the company’s plans. JLR has committed to developing a new generation of Discovery, emphasizing its role as a versatile family adventure vehicle.
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The Defender’s broader range of options, including various engines, trim levels, and body styles, have contributed to its sales success, potentially impacting the sales of the Discovery model. Despite the Discovery’s comparable refinement, the Defender’s versatility has attracted more buyers, as evidenced by its 2023 sales of 110,367 units, significantly surpassing those of the Discovery.
Defender and Discovery Brand Managing Director, Mark Cameron stated, “If you look from a product perspective, [the] Defender came in and sat quite squarely on top of Discovery and cannibalised a lot of that business. Making the Discovery brand its own entity could give it a new lease of life, as all JLR brands are currently unintentionally competing with each other due to their shared retail footprint.”
The upcoming sixth-generation Land Rover Discovery is expected to share its platform with the current Range Rover L460, which is built on the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA). This platform supports both internal combustion engines and electric powertrains, suggesting that the next Discovery could offer a range of powertrain options.
The next Discovery will also get a new halo model. It will be developed by JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division which has been responsible for the Defender Octa and the Range Rover SV. According to JLR’s SVO Chief, Jamal Hameedi, the Discovery will have “its own special interpretation of what flagship means”, suggesting that the Discovery will have its original bespoke performance nameplate.
