Hot on the heels of launching the all-new Jaguar XE in Paris this morning, ahead of the Paris motor show, the Jaguar Land Rover Group unveiled their all-new Land Rover Discovery Sport. Journalists from all corners of the globe were present at a secure location along the banks of the river Seine to witness the first viewing of the Discovery Sport, which arrived in dramatic style on a barge, complete with ramps and a water splash to demonstrate the premium compact SUV's capabilities.
Land Rover is keen to impress on the Discovery Sport’s versatility and premium interior. It’s available as a five seater and a five-plus-two seater, with the rear-most seats really only accessible by children. The second row seats are elevated to improve visibility, they also slide forwards to increase luggage space and backwards to increase legroom. The Discovery Sport shares the same platform utilised by the Range Rover Evoque and is 91 millimetres longer than the Freelander. The luggage space is ample, with up to 689 litres on offer with the seats up and 1,698 litres of space with the seats folded down.
When the Land Rover Discovery Sport goes on sale next January (indicative price from €45,000), customers can choose from one petrol and two diesel power plants. The 2.0-litre Si4 petrol engine is mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission and produces 240hp. For the Irish market the diesel variants will be the key sellers, the TD4 engine offers 150hp and 400Nm of torque and has CO2 emissions of 149g/km. The more powerful SD4 diesel engine has 190hp and 420Nm of torque, both are available with a six-speed manual transmission or a nine-speed automatic transmission.
One of the interior highlights is the infotainment system, complete with an eight inch touch screen and Land Rover’s InControl Apps and Remote. This allows users to remotely access some functions on their vehicle such as climate and location. Although the vast majority of Discovery Sport customers will rarely venture off-road, if required it’s a very capable machine and has a wading depth of 600 millimetres.
From what we’ve seen today Land Rover’s all-new Discovery Sport looks well positioned to challenge the Audi Q5, BMW’s X3 and the Volvo XC60. We certainly look forward to driving it in the coming weeks.