Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division has enjoyed immense success over is very short existence. Its SVO-branded vehicles have pushed boundaries in both high-end luxury with the Range Rover SVAutobiography and high-performance with the Range Rover Sport SVR. Now it seems JLR is ready to expand SVO’s reach off the beaten path.
Land Rover is preparing a hard-core off-road version of its upcoming Discovery 5 SUV, called the SVX. It’s rumored to be laden with new-school technology complementing proven off-road mechanicals, giving the SUV an unparalleled ability to go anywhere.
In a conversation with AutoCar, SVO boss John Edwards admitted the Land Rover brand “is all about bandwidth,” meaning the automaker can do it all. “What we have done over 65 years is broaden the breadth of capability of our vehicles,” said Edwards. “We have taken the opportunity with the Sport SVR to go right, and SVX gives us a chance to go left. It’s clear that a result of that will be that the Land Rover proposition will benefit overall — we will be amplifying the core brand values.”
What’s more, Land Rover has the opportunity to use the SVX name on multiple vehicles within its lineup, including the upcoming Defender. Since the Discovery is slotted to arrive for the 2017 model year, it’s likely it will receive the SVX treatment first.
Land Rover’s Discovery Vision concept had plenty of cutting-edge technology that could make its way onto the Discovery SVX, including the “virtual windscreen and bonnet” that uses cameras and displays to “see through” the hood, viewing the grown just ahead of the front tires. Expect to see the Disco SVX to utilize old-school tech like locking differentials and aggressive tires to round out the package.
Such a Discovery SVX will be marketed in the U.S., the Middle East, Australia, and other parts of the world with rough terrain. JLR would likely introduce the SVX version of the Discovery a year after the SUV’s initial launch, making a 2018 on-sale date the probable target.
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