The Land Rover Discovery Sport Is Dying, But Don't Worry, A More Appealing Defender Sport Is On The Way

Land Rover announced that it is discontinuing the Discovery Sport at the end of this year, but fret not, fans of smaller, softened versions of off-road-y Land Rovers. We already know the company is preparing a new Defender Sport model to effectively take its place.

Discovery Sport production is winding down this December, "in line with normal product lifecycles," as a Land Rover spokesperson told Autocar. "As part of this transition, there will be a managed sunset of manufacturing ahead of this date for certain markets." Autocar also points out that the Disco Sport's demise conveniently lines up with when Europe's new General Safety Regulation 2 rules kick in, and that having the car comply would've required expensive updates. It's already really long in the tooth, anyway.

Positioned as a spiritual replacement for the old LR2, the Land Rover Discovery Sport dropped all the way back in 2014, which sounds like a lifetime ago, and is one of those cars that I feel like most people frankly forgot existed. Case in point: The last time Jalopnik reviewed one was at the launch 11 years ago, and the last time we wrote about it at all was when it came out on top on a list of cars people regret buying most, with 28.3% of owners getting rid of it within the first year of ownership.

Land Rover may be putting the disappointing Discovery Sport out to pasture, but its specific spot in the lineup shouldn't be empty for very long because something arguably a lot more interesting is going to take its place pretty soon: a "baby" version of the big bad Defender.

Often referred to as the Defender Sport, this new Land Rover will use the same EMA (Electrified Modular Architecture) platform as the recently teased Range Rover GT "crossover-coupe-sedan-thing." The company told Autocar that the Defender Sport will come with a hybrid option before an all-electric version arrives "in the future."

The Defender Sport (or whatever it ends up actually being called) is expected to debut in 2027, so other technical details remain a mystery for now. But judging from spy shots and, y'know, how the whole "Sport" Version Of A Real Off-Roader thing usually goes, expect the same boxy proportions and lots of styling cues borrowed from the Defender — just smaller, less capable, and less expensive. It's the same route Mercedes is going with its own baby G-wagen.