Land Rover reignights disco fever, announces new Discovery Sport model for 2015

By Stephen Edelstein April 16, 2014

Before it was named LR4 in North America, Land Rover’s second-biggest SUV was named Discovery. Soon, that name will return to this side of the Atlantic.

At the 2014 New York Auto Show, Land Rover announced that its next vehicle will be named Discovery Sport. The venerable British brand described this new model, set to debut in 2015, as a “premium compact SUV”.

Now, Land Rover already has a premium compact SUV in its lineup in the form of the Range Rover Evoque, and there’s also the slightly less premium LR2, which may have to go to make way for the Discovery Sport.

What is certain is that the Discovery Sport will take styling cues from the Discovery Vision Concept, which was also unveiled in New York. The concept in turn features the familial Land Rover look already seen on the Evoque, Range Rover, and Range Rover Sport.

With this new model, Land Rover hopes to start a “family” of Discovery models, just as it’s done with the three current Range Rover models.

There are already more Range Rovers than Land Rovers in the brand’s U.S. lineup, so perhaps the brand is trying Porsche’s strategy of creating endless permutations of a handful of models.

Either way, the Discovery Sport will go on sale in the U.S. in 2015, so expect more details in the coming months.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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