A new commercial version of the Land Rover Discovery will arrive in showrooms in the second quarter of 2018.
The Discovery Commercial features 1.9 m3 of load space, replacing the passenger-carrying Discovery’s second and third row of seats, and towing capacity up to 3.5- tonnes.
There’s a choice of two diesel engines, a 2.0-litre, SD4 four-cylinder producing 240hp, and a 3.0-litre, TD6 six-cylinder producing 258hp.
Payload figures are 721kg for the SD4, and 883kg for the TD6.
Accessed by a powered tailgate, and featuring a powered inner tailgate, the Discovery Commercial’s load space measures 1,635mm long, 939mm high and 1,411mm wide. The boot aperture is large enough to accept loads measuring up to 1000 x 735mm.
Prices start from £40,333 excluding VAT, and order books are open now, with deliveries due from the second quarter of 2018.
The Discovery Commercial comes with four-wheel-drive, automatic transmission, a twin-speed transfer box, air suspension and a full-size spare wheel.
The vehicle retains the regular Discovery’s InControl Touch Pro multimedia system, and also the Terrain Response system, which optimises the engine, gearbox, centre differential and chassis systems to match the terrain.
The optional Terrain Response 2 system enhances this further by monitoring driving conditions and automatically selecting the appropriate driving modes.
The Discovery Commercial shares the fundamental underpinnings of the regular Discovery, with its suspension featuring a wide-spaced double-wishbone design at the front and an advanced multi-link layout at the rear.
The Commercial retains the passenger-carrier’s exterior design with rear window concealment panels masked by privacy glass.
Standard equipment includes cruise control and speed limiter, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, heated windscreen and rear window, heated door mirrors, DAB radio, InControl Protect, tyre pressure monitoring system, hill launch assist, dynamic stability control, roll stability control, cornering brake control, gradient acceleration control, hill descent control and trailer stability assist.
Previous Discovery Commercials have been niche sellers for Land Rover, with the company selling a total of 3,934 LCVs in 2016, according to the SMMT, a figure covering both Discoverys and Defenders, although the latter model went out of production in January 2016.
Jaguar Land Rover UK managing director Jeremy Hicks said: “Discovery Commercial has always been a key part of the Discovery line-up since the Discovery 1, but the latest version brings new levels of practicality, versatility and premium levels of comfort that showcase the vehicle’s hard-working DNA.”
By Sean Keywood
