Another stillborn by the Special Vehicles Operation.
Back at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show, British SUV marque Land Rover came over all excited to show the world its new Discovery SVX, designed to be an extreme expression of what the combination of high-luxury and unrivalled off-road capability would look like. It was even powered by a 5.0-litre supercharged V8, marking it out as the crown in the Discovery lineup, which had up to that point lacked 8-cylinder motivation.
However, it is not to be. By this point, Land Rover’s Special Vehicles Operation (SVO) would be hoping to delivery Discovery SVX’s to jubilant owners around the world, who’d then feel properly equipped to drive up Kilimanjaro, or something. But as part of JLR’s wider expenditure cuts, the SVX was marked out as yet another frivolity too many.
It was confirmed to UK rag Autocar that the SVX would not be going into production, marking it the second casualty of JLR’s floundering financials after the Range Rover SV Coupé. The last quarter of 2018 saw the British luxury automaker lose around £300-million (or $550-million to us), citing weak diesel demand, slowing sales in China, and uncertainty related to Brexit. Perhaps even sadder still, some 4500 people employed by JLR globally will be let go, as the company aims to make itself lean again in the soonest possible timeframe.
With Jaguar-Land Rover putting out some truly incredible products right now (read our reports on the Jaguar I-Pace and Range Rover Evoque) and even more incredible products planned for the future (like the refreshed Discovery Sport, all-new Defender, and all-electric Jaguar XJ limousine), we certainly hope that Jaguar-Land Rover and parent-company Tata find pockets of money to free up soon.
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