With the next Land Rover Discovery around the corner, JLR's Special Vehicle Operations division is tasked with creating the ultimate off-roader that it can be.
Land Rover has always commanded some measure of respect the off-roading community. Their Defender, which sadly ended its production run this year with a replacement on the way, was one of the definitve off-roaders that personified the market it occupied.
Sure, their newer vehicles are more luxurious than they are focused on tackling impossible terrain, but having said that they do fare rather admirably across the rough suff for the kind of machines they are.
And just like 2008’s Defender SVX, a report by UK’s Autocar posits that JLR’s (Jaguar-Land Rover) Special Vehicles Operations arm will unveil a Discovery SVX that’s given a thorough rework to make it the most capable off-roader it can be.
This SVX version of the Discovery will likely make its debut a year or two following the release of the all-new generation, one to replace the ageing Discovery 4 (L319), which is due for a public unveil some time in late 2016.
JLR’s SVO division has the task of creating special models to highlight the best of Jaguar-Land Rover’s offerings of ‘performance’, ‘luxury’, and ‘capability’.
While two of the three aformentioned ‘showcase’ vehicles have been introduced, the remaining ‘capability’ car will be represented by this more extreme version of the next-generation Discovery.
Now, we have no way of knowing what the next-generation Discovery will look like, let alone after the SVO division has had their way with it, but it could bear some resemblance to the Discovery Expidition which we have pictured here.
Speaking to Autocar, head of the SVO division, John Edwards notably said: “The opportunity might be different from a market perspective, but it is obvious from a Land Rover perspective. From an emotional perspective it is pressing that we do an SVX.”
As to be expected, areas with a harsher environments would be the ideal regions for Land Rover to appeal to buyers with this SVX. True enough, Australia falls into that category, along with other core markets such as the Middle East, the snowbelt of North America, as well as South Africa.
There remains some speculation about whether Land Rover will eventually offer a next-generation Defender SVX to further claim more lost ground on its off-roading reputation, but the incentive from the company seems very much alive.
