The Land Rover Discovery Sport made its debut ahead of the Paris Motor Show last year and the newest offering from Land Rover will be reaching the Indian shores by mid of this year. Replacing the ageing Freelander 2, the new Land Rover Discovery Sport will be locally assembled at the Jaguar Land Rover’s Pune facility. We can safely expect the company to price its entry-level SUV at around INR 40 lakh mark.
The Discovery Sport rides on the same platform as the Freelander and Range Rover Evoque. According to Land Rover, major modifications were made to the platform before incorporating it in the Sport. Land Rover may offer the Discovery Sport in India with only the 2.2-liter oil burner in two states of tune- 150PS and 190PS. The engine will paired to a nine-speed automatic gearbox. Unlike the Freelander 2, the Discovery Sport has seven seats.
The Land Rover Discovery Sport has been awarded the maximum five star safety rating from Euro NCAP. It features a number of safety features, such as an all-new pedestrian airbag which is a first in the small-SUV segment. This feature deploys from the upper-rear surface of the bonnet within 60 milliseconds upon detection of a pedestrian impact to reduce the risk of serious pedestrian injury.
The Discovery Sport also features a full range of active and passive safety systems :
- Dynamic Stability Control
- Electronic Traction Control
- Roll Stability Control
- Anti-lock Braking Systems
- Reverse Traffic Detection
- Emergency Brake Lights
- Lane Departure Warning
- Seatbelt Reminders
Optional features also include Blind Spot Monitoring with Closing Vehicle Sensing, Active Speed Limiting and Reverse Traffic Detection.