What's all this about?
This is the Land Rover Discovery Commercial, a work-focused version of the car that boasts a whopping 1,865-litre load space, thanks to the surgical removal of the back seats.
Wow, what are you going to fill that with?
Christmas trees, apparently. Mini ones. Well, that's what Land Rover did as a bit of a wheeze to launch the new Discovery Commercial. It teamed up with Bloom & Wild, experts in packaging and delivering fresh flowers to letterboxes across the country, to load up a one-off special. The new Discovery Commercial, wrapped in Bloom & Wild livery, hauled 300 mini Christmas trees back to the UK from their farm in the Netherlands in time for the festive season.
Can it only carry trees?
No, but it can certainly drive between them. All Discovery Commercials keep the standard car's four-wheel drive, as well as Terrain Response control and air suspension. Other standard kit includes InControl Touch Pro, cruise control and speed limiter, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning, heated windscreen and rear window, heated door mirrors, DAB radio, InControl Protect, Tyre Pressure Monitoring system, Hill Launch Assist, Dynamic Stability Control, Roll Stability Control, Cornering Brake Control, Gradient Acceleration Control, Hill Descent Control and Trailer Stability Assist. So this is one commercial vehicle that's as well equipped as some luxury cars.
Underneath the powered tailgate, the load space measures 1,635mm long, 939mm high and 1,411mm wide. The boot aperture is large enough to accept loads measuring up to 1000 x 735mm.
Interestingly, as well as putting the usual blank metal panels over the side window openings, Land Rover has kept the regular Disco's privacy glass on the outside, so that it looks less obviously like a commercial 4x4. Neat.
Jaguar Land Rover UK Managing Director, Jeremy Hicks said "Discovery Commercial has always been a key part of the Discovery line-up since the Discovery 1, but the latest version brings new levels of practicality, versatility and premium levels of comfort that showcase the vehicle's hard-working DNA."
How much?
Prices start at £48,695 on the road (of which VAT accounts for £8,066.67) and you can have it in S, SE and HSE trims with a choice of the 240hp 2.0-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel, or the 258hp 3.0-litre TDV6 diesel.
Neil Briscoe - 18 Dec 2017