Know who’s happy about the lousy winter weather pummeling the U.S. this year? Body repair shops and automakers that make sport utility vehicles. Both are doing a healthy
business this season, especially in places like Boston. In fact, no other automotive category in the U.S. is growing more quickly than compact SUVs and crossovers. They have the footprint of a smaller sedan, but generally give enough clearance to drive over humps of snow, especially in models that are available as all-wheel-drive.
All of which leaves Tata-owned Land Rover in a very sweet spot. The company is releasing a 2015-year compact SUV it calls the Discovery Sport, with sticker prices starting around $38,000. At such a relatively inexpensive price, the luxury carmaker expects the Discovery Sport to become its volume player. (The priciest HSE Luxury model starts at more than $46,000.)
After several days of testing, I can confirm that it really can handle inclement weather, living up to Land Rover’s rough-and-ready reputation. The company was so intent on making that point that it asked us to drive the car in Iceland.
The name of the country kind of says it all, right? If you can drive it there, you can drive it anywhere. (Though when I tested the Discovery Sport in January, the temperatures in New York were colder than those in the hinterlands of Iceland. Go figure.)
The Sport, as I’ll call it, is actually an all-new and rebadged version of the LR2 model. In the States, the LR2 was under-marketed and rather unloved, the almost Land Rover. And when Land Rover released the stylish, compact Evoque, it made the LR2 seem even sadder. Cue the trombone.
The new Sport is built on the same platform as the Evoque, and at first glance they’d seem to be at odds with one another. After all, does Land Rover need two compact SUVs in its portfolio?
But the two mini utes are destined for two very different audiences. The Evoque, which starts at only about $4,000 more than the Sport, is a fashion statement, especially in its coupe form. The roofline rakes back, which looks dandy but creates a squeeze for rear passengers.