Jaguar Land Rover CEO, P.B. Balaji has confirmed that the Land Rover Discovery is on the cusp of total revolution. The brand is preparing a new generation of family-friendly, but still very off-road capable SUVs. Speaking with journalists, Balaji said: “Discovery is very much part of our ‘House of Brands’. [This is] an important part of our offering to the customers, and where the customer is able to access the brand, and the entire JLR franchise, at much more affordable prices.” For Land Rover, its reimagination of the Defender has been a colossal success. But it has also come at the expense of Discovery, whose customers have made a bee-line for the more polished and variable Defender. As was predicted at its launch, the Defender has effectively out-competed the Discovery for many customers, leaving JLR in a bind about how to position future models. Balaji continued: “At the same time, it needs to be uniquely differentiated. Some customers have indeed migrated to a Defender. And therefore, that is the work that we are currently on to. “You should expect to hear from us, future plans on Discovery, sooner rather than later. We are as committed to the Discovery as any of our other brands.” This suggests that the Discovery brand could be in the process of a wholesale reinvention, similar to that undertaken by the Defender and, more controversially, Jaguar. However there are still questions about how much daylight remains between the Defender and more opulent Range Rover lines, not forgetting the incoming range of Chery-developed Freelander models that’ll offer similar levels of space to a potential Discovery replacement, and at an even lower price point. Land Rover won’t be slowing down its Defender development either, as the brand will ‘double-down’ on that brand pillar, and build on the success that family of vehicles has generated.
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