Land Rover’s old boss was pushing to give the next Discovery seven-seater a more distinct identity.
That’s according to Autocar, which reports the next Discovery will evolve to be better differentiated from the Defender which has overtaken it on the sales charts.
With the imminent launch of the seven-seat Defender 130, there’s about to be even more crossover between Land Rover’s two family four-wheel drives.
“It has always been a very family-oriented model and we want to enhance that,” recently retired Land Rover CEO Thierry Bollore told Autocar.
“It needs to have many of the best characteristics of our luxury models, but with the emphasis on practicality and accessibility.”
Current Land Rover Discovery
It could share its MLA underpinnings with the latest Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. This architecture supports petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid and all-electric powertrains.
Mr Bollore suggested Discovery could evolve to become a stronger sub-brand like Range Rover. It’s not clear if those intentions will be carried on under his successor, however.
Mr Bollore stepped down after just two years at the helm of Jaguar Land Rover, citing “personal reasons”.
He took the helm late in 2020, and announced his Reimagine business plan for the Indian-owned, British brands early in 2021.
He killed the next-generation XJ flagship just months before its planned reveal, and wanted to make Jaguar into a rival for Bentley rather than BMW with an electric-only range from 2025.
Earlier in 2022, Mr Bollore revealed Jaguar had decided to develop its own EV underpinnings named Panthera, in a bid to give its next vehicles unique proportions.
Jaguar’s first electric car, the I-Pace
Which of these plans will live on, and which will suffer the same fate as the XJ that Bollore unceremoniously axed, remains to be seen.
Although he won’t formally leave the company before the end of 2023, Bollore is leaving the post of CEO immediately with Adrian Mardell, currently chief financial officer, taking over on an interim basis.
“I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together at Jaguar Land Rover over the last two years,” he said in a prepared statement.
“The company’s transformation and acceleration towards a sustainable, profitable future as a modern luxury business is underway at great pace. I would like to thank the whole team for their dedication and passion and I wish the entire organisation the very best for the future.”
