The new Discovery takes centre stage on the Jaguar Land Rover stand in Paris, fresh from its unveiling alongside a world record-breaking LEGO model of London’s Tower Bridge.
Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Chief Design Officer, said: “This is a modern Discovery in every sense, designed to accommodate seven full-sized adults. This well-proportioned, sure-footed vehicle will establish new standards for the Discovery family.”
Retaining key family design cues, the fifth-generation model continues the Discovery legacy which has attracted more than 1.2 million customers over the last 27 years.
Land Rover’s full-sized SUV architecture’s lightweight aluminium construction saves up to 480kg, helping to deliver enhanced efficiency and CO2 emissions from as low as 171g/km.
The Ingenium engine range has been expanded with addition of a 240PS, four-cylinder diesel engine with 500Nm of torque, which is good for best-in-class towing capacity of 3,500kg, says Land Rover, while semi-autonomous Advanced Tow Assist is there to make difficult reversing manoeuvres – a little less difficult.
Land Rover says the premium interior combines leading design with durable, high-quality materials and space for the whole family. UK specification will feature seven seats as standard with luggage capacity of up to 2,406 litres.
Among the world-first technologies debuted by Land Rover’s new SUV is Intelligent Seat Fold, which allows customers to remotely reconfigure the second- and third-row seats using a smartphone.
The cabin is equipped with up to nine USB ports, six 12-volt charging points and an in-car WiFi hotspot for up to eight devices. Additionally Jaguar Land Rover’s newly announced Spotify app offers readily available ‘music for every moment’ radio and personalised playlists based on users’ tastes and in-car listening habits.
The new SUV arrived in Paris after its official unveiling on a 13-metre high LEGO version of London’s Tower Bridge which set a new Guinness World Record for the largest ever LEGO structure, using 5.8million bricks. Celebrity guests at the event included long-term Discovery owners Bear Grylls, Sir Ben Ainslie and Zara Phillips.
The new Land Rover Discovery is set to go on sale from Spring 2017 priced from £43,495 on-the-road.