News : LR Vision Concept breaks cover in the UK

Andrew Elphick

Vision2

The Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept first broke cover a month ago – on an aircraft carrier, in the middle of the sea, as you do. However, fast-forward a month and Land Rover softly launched the Vision to the public at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

It’s not your obvious location, until you scan the car parks which, at first glance, seem to represent the world’s largest used Land Rover facility – a very effective location to customer clinic the Vision.

So what do we know about the Vision? Well, it isn’t the new Freelander replacement (that’s the incoming Discovery Sport) nor is it the Discovery 4 replacement. Whilst distinctive, current Ford Explorer owners might have a double take, so one does wonder if the same car, same hardpoints, but with tougher rugged fore and aft might appear in the near future.

An overheard passing customer remarked (on the show stand), ‘Is it another new Range Rover?’ Certainly it is pretty, but Gerry McGovern’s photocopier does seem to be flat out at the moment.

Knock down those motor show alloys a few inches, hang the ‘suicide’ doors the right way round and what does it leave? A particularly well-finished interior, which though stylised (posts rather than rails under the seats, touch screens for everything) looks quite production ready. Fitting seemingly functioning third row seats in black leather is a bit odd for a design muse (especially when the fabulous two tone leather is a different shade entirely).

If this concept makes production, sitting in any of the seats will be a nice place to be, especially as the window line is deep, rather than enjoying the narrow, upswept Evoque style. Exterior wise, we have the familiar floating pillars and Discovery upswept roof line. However, remove the C-pillar behind the rear doors, and you’re in Range Rover territory, even down to the Evoque arch lips. The familiar Freelander curved clamshell bonnet is evident though.

Ten years ago Land Rover announced the Range Stormer, which went into production later in watered-down form. Will history repeat itself? Come the Autumn, AROnline will have all the news – but, for now, enjoy the gallery.

Find out more at Land Rover’s website

Vision4

Keith Adams

18 Comments

  1. The more I look over this cars visual appearance the greater I love it. I just hope they keep the Discovery’s off road performance and do not compromise that just for short term sales gain.

  2. ok I think ive got used to this car – can I have one please – with 7 seats and a sub 8 second 0 to 100kmr time. alex

  3. The front is very Range Rover.

    From the side, it is the car the 9-5X could’ve been.
    (A good marketing strategy mind, there are a few 9-5 owners who are ready to trade up but don’t fancy the usual German offerings…)

  4. Meh-tastic – maybe they upgraded it from an elephant that sat on it to a Mammoth.. You can get much better, more competent vehicles at probably half the price.. Oh wait, thats not the point, we’re buying British – from a company out of India founded by a Zoroastrastrian bloke from Persia (formerly known as Iranshahr, currently known as Iran) – Depressing for him I would imagine, his ancestors bring the world the toothbrush and what is his legacy – the (very) common, or lesser classed Chav Wagon Jnr.

    And I might be wrong but didnt they get rid of suicide doors way back when for a reason – maybe something to do with the fact they ended up being called suicide doors? Picture the happy scene – rich pampered brats getting out of overpriced COV (Chav Operated Vehicle) – idiot in BMW M1 screams past at a fair percentage of local light speed having confused the tachometer with the speedo again (30 on the rev-counter in top doesnt equal 30mph) – poor little rich girl Veronica, all of 4″5 tall gets slammed between the door and the door surrounds and the sill moulding turns her pelvis into something resembling powdered chalk (so she spends the rest of her life in a wheelchair peeing through a drinking straw) – what could possibly be wrong with resurrecting something called a “suicide door” after all.

    “Thank you for collecting your homework Veronica, dont forget to pick up your kidney, you’ll need it when you get back to the hospital..”

  5. This of course may be me – but does this thing look like Ken Dodd with terminal tooth decay from the back? And a constipated “chinee” from the front?

  6. Crumbs Jemma, you’re very cynical today!

    The ‘suicide’ doors work well on the RX-8 and the Vauxhall Meriva. But you have a point, users of these doors do need to be observant – something that is often missing in modern motoring!

  7. Those suicide doors are horrible… A friend of mine has a Merriva and he regrets buying this car and can’t wait to get rid of it. It’s fine if you have your own driveway and nothing is standing close to your car, but when you are parking on a supermarket parking or parking garage where there’s little room between cars it’s a nightmare since the doors can’t really open that far in situations like that and you’re basicly all standing in eachothers way when peaple from the front and the back are both getting out of the car. When you exit first to get the kids out of the back, you can’t close the front door because when closed the back door won’t open etc… If you want easy access you need sliding doors, not this…

  8. I agree, very reminiscent of SAAB (albeit with stilettos, RR knows their WAGs…) in the design, also suicide doors are a “gimmick”, the ford B-max shows how a (not that) small MPV should be to work properly in today’s ever so small/narrow park spaces. Obviously, when launched it’s gonna be the new car to have and as such, like every RR car it will be very overpriced… At least it (hopefully) will provide employment in UK !

  9. This looks as though it should have been the new Range Rover Sport. Certainly makes the real thing look positively er un-sporting. I thought the motoring press was saying this is the Discovery 5?

  10. Try as hard as I might, I just don’t comprehend why driving a car that’s too high and too wide for most British roads, and almost all British car-parks,is anything other than plain daft. Can you imagine being hit by one of these things?

  11. 10@ Paul the factory LR staff on the stand COULDN’T help but mention it was not the Disco5. Repeatedly. They were enthusing about the other surprise, the Hybrid RR sneaked on the stand. Couldn’t give a Lexus comparison I’m afraid though.

  12. sufficiently different from the agressive sporty RR-sport/Evoque to appeal to different class of people- I think it hits current Disco owners pretty well squarely- it’s kind of a 4×4 rival for people who might consider a Jaguar XF Sportbrake perhaps? I suppose Land Rover must have asked themselves , “if we came up with the Discovery model-range for the first time in 2014, what would it be like assuming Disco 1-4 hadn’t existed?” Quite a successful re-imagining in my book. Would have liked to have seen a less Range-rover style grill though, Why not try something completely different?

  13. Is LR going to end up like the Audi A4/5 and BMW 3/4 series cars were you ask what are the real differences?

  14. If LR end up being like Audi or BMW they would be very successful and producing over 1 million cars/annum which is surely positive. After all many Brits continue to buy an Audi even though it’s a VW in drag.

  15. As if LR will take the slightest bit of notice of what visitors to the Royal Windsor think – no towbar for the horsebox and… where does one store one’s guns?

    No, the only ‘customer clinics’ LR will take seriously are those in South Ken., Wilmslow, Beijing and Dubai.

  16. even with badge engineering the different products from the same base vehicle will appeal to different buyers. For example I think the Audi and VW’s look pretty nice (styling), but I don’t like the Octavia. and of course the cars have different pricing in the market especially the Audi. To apply this badge engineering philosophy to Jaguar (using Rover) however, might work, but my personal opinion, is that the rover should be a sub class to Jaguar, and only the smaller vehicles. The other thing they would have to do, is to make them conservatively styled, and very very reliable. alex

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