The Land Rover Discovery Sport is set to hit the market next year as a perpetual successor to the Freelander, and the British automaker has commenced the final real world road tests of the premium SUV. However, in an innovative use of camouflage, Land Rover has divulged some new details on the SUV that showcases the second and third row of seats. The automaker states that the 5+2 layout on the Discovery Sport will offer spacious load space and configurable seating, while still retaining a compact footprint than the traditional 5-seater SUVs.
The 2015 Discovery Sport takes design cues from the Land Rover Discovery Vision concept that was revealed earlier this year at the New York Auto Show and certainly looks leaner, smarter and modern than the outgoing version. Powering the new Discovery Sport will be Jaguar Land Rover’s new Ingenium family of petrol and diesel engines that will debut on the Jaguar XE entry-level premium sedan later this year.
Land Rover also states that the prototypes have left the company’s Halewood facility in the UK to begin their final testing and development activity across several continents and will be produced at the plant from next year onwards. Competing against the Mercedes ML-Class, BMW X3 and Audi Q5 in the segment, the 2015 Discovery is expected to be launched in India by the end of 2015 or in the first half of 2016. Considering that the Freelander is assembled in the country, the new Discovery Sport will also be brought in as CKD and could be priced in the Rs. 45-55 lakh range.
