Fifth Generation Discovery Due in 2016

Land Rover is getting set to release its fifth-generation Discovery.

The new vehicle will be lower, sleeker and significantly lighter than the Discovery 4 (LR4 in the USA market) it replaces. Expect the launch to occur toward the end of 2016.

The newest Discovery vehicle will use the same bonded and riveted aluminium body structure as the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, and like those models, will be built in the brand’s Solihull manufacturing facility.

There will likely be minimum of three Discovery models, including a top of the line 7-seater. Base models in most countries would ship with the current 3.0-liter SDV6 diesel, with the new Ingenium diesels to follow later. There is no word as to which engine packages Land Rover will be offering for its US customers.

As always, Land Rover will be loading Discover 5 with lots of new technology features such as a laser scanning system that can predict upcoming road surfaces and ‘warn’ the suspension, remote-control parking, and the “invisible bonnet” - projection onto the bonnet of the road under the car.

Land Rover Design director Gerry McGovern assures that the ‘stadium seating’ for seven under a stepped roof would continue to be a Discovery feature and that the new ‘Disco’ would have more premium bells and whistles to bring it closer to the Range Rover.

Discovery 5 will be the latest update in a vehicle line that first went to market in 1989 as a response to more economically priced competition from Asian manufacturers. Now Discovery will stand front and center of the Land Rover ‘Leisure’ product line, with the Range Rover, as the biggest earner, taking on the same role in Land Rover’s ‘Luxury’ segment. The yet-to-be-revealed next-generation of Defender, will head up a third ‘Dual Purpose’ line.