Land Rover Discovery SVX aborted
Tough V8 petrol-powered Land Rover Discovery SVX killed off before production begins in the wake of JLR sales slumpJaguar Land Rover (JLR) has cancelled plans to introduce a production version of the Land Rover Discovery SVX, it has been revealed.
According to
, the road-going Land Rover Discovery SVX was scheduled to enter production in late 2018 and go on sale shortly after. Then, the hardcore off-road biased SUV was cancelled at the last minute.Originally unveiled at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show, the Land Rover Discovery SVX was created to be a halo model within the Discovery line-up.
Powered by a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 that produced a punchy 368kW and a muscular 625Nm, the Discovery SVX was promised to be the "most extreme Land Rover yet", with a raised ride height, more wheel articulation and large all-terrain tyres.
The SVX, developed by Land Rover Special Vehicles Operation (SVO), also featured long-travel dampers, an active centre diff, an electronic rear locking differential and a twin-speed transfer box to ensure it could go further off-road than any of its rivals.
Land Rover hasn't confirmed the reason why the Discovery SVX program was aborted so late but has admitted the powerful V8 is no longer destined to be used in the Discovery and that the special Disco SVX would not go ahead in its current form.
Despite killing off the flagship Discovery SVX, an insider did admit the 'SVX' badge would live on. However, the source would not be drawn on what models would carry the SVX tag in the future.
The loss of the Discovery SVX is yet another blow to JLR's SVO division following the recent cull of the Range Rover SV Coupe that, again, was dropped before production commenced.
Recently, SVO lost its design boss Wayne Burgess to Chinese car-maker Geely.
Struggling JLR has also been forced to slash almost 4500 jobs in the UK after being hurt by a slump in China and a collapse of diesel sales in Europe.
It's thought the recent SVO cull is linked, as the Tata-owned British car-maker restructures.
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