New Discovery and Velar to boost Land Rover

July’s launch of the fifth-generation Land Rover Discovery and the local sale of the new Range Rover Velar will signal the start of an intense two-year roll-out of new models and further lift local sales targets for the SUV specialist.

Discovery 5, and the late 2017 local arrival of the all-new fourth model in the Range Rover line-up, will be followed by substantial overhauls for the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and the brand’s biggest seller, the Discovery Sport. Old-school Land Rover fans may, however, lament the fact the arrival of the first models in an all-new Defender family (or at least some form of public appearance) is still only a maybe at the far-end of that hectic period.

As motoring.com.au has already reported, the Discovery family expands from five to 25 models as it pushes up into new premium and luxury territory beyond $120,000. Its entry pricing remains below $70,000.

Land Rover-Range Rover sold a record 13,597 vehicles in SUV-mad Australia in 2016, despite not adding any new models. This and the expanding range has prompted bullish expectations from Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director, Matthew Wiesner.

“Kicking off with a new Discovery from July, we are off with regards to Land Rover,” Wiesner told motoring.com.au.

“There is a lot more work coming in ’18 on Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, and model year changes for Discovery Sport, so there is a constant product focus on Land Rover for the next 24 months.

“So if we manage to hold ground and grow a bit now without a lot of new news … then we have an [expanded] opportunity when we do have new [model] news.”

Ahead of next week’s release of full details in the UK, Wiesner confirmed Velar would hit Australia in quarter four of 2017 and confirmed he was excited by the potential the four-door coupe based on the same architecture as the Jaguar F-Pace offered the brand.

“Velar will hit that free space we have between Evoque and Range Rover Sport, which is a fair way away from where Evoque exists. So we see it as a great opportunity to fill that gap,” he said.

“We will probably be somewhat constrained on supply over the first six to 12 months, so it will take a while to see how it all settle down between Evoque, Velar and Range Rover Sport.

“It’s a nice problem to have,” Wiesner stated.

The dramatic expansion of the Discovery range is intended to tap into the expanding luxury SUV market, as well as continue to appeal to the highly regarded off-roader’s traditional audience.

“We see Discovery being able to take on and put us right in that space against your [Audi] Q7s, your [Volvo] XC90s, your [BMW] X5s,” Wiesner explained, while downplaying conflicts with the Range Rover Sport, with which Discovery now shares its architecture and also has models sitting in the same pricing space around $100,000.

“Yes, there might be a bit of overlap in that higher premium space,” he conceded.

“But if you want a true seven-seater then you are probably not going to be satisfied with a Range Rover Sport, because it is not going to have the room.”

Wiesner revealed he had challenged his sales team to boost the popularity of the new Discovery by exploiting the increased choice it was offering at the premium-priced end of the range.

“We have seen probably around 2500 to 2800 Discoverys [sold per annum] over the last few years and that was with a model that has been aging gracefully and has done a bloody good job. But if that’s the case with that particular product, which was constrained at the top end, what are we unlocking and what is the opportunity?

“It’s never an easy one to answer and will be a challenge to realise in the first year or so because production is going to be tight and demand is going to be strong… But it certainly it puts us in a nice position to be able to stretch the brand,” he said.

Wiesner also stressed that growth must not come at the expense of Discovery’s traditional fan base. They will be catered for by the new S entry-level model that arrives towards the end of the year and holds the line on pricing by offering a four-cylinder turbo-diesel, eschewing air suspension for coils and making some off-road aids optional.

“Discovery must continue to play its role, but that doesn’t mean it can’t broaden its reach,” he said.

“Let’s face it, there are a lot of people who love Discovery for all it is and the versatility that it had, but it didn’t quite tick the boxes they wanted at the top end of that particular scale. This car will. This car stretches… what we are trying to do is hold the line down here [at entry level] and also stretch up here,” Wiesner said.