• JLR wants more differentiation between Discovery and Defender
• Volkswagen’s ID.Buzz may be an inspiration for a new Discovery
• EV and gas powertrains are likely for a new Discovery

JLR is planning a rethink of its Discovery midsize SUV to help prevent its sales being cannibalized by the similar but more rugged Defender.

The information was revealed by JLR executive Mark Cameron during an interview with Autocar published on Monday. Cameron is responsible for the Defender and Discovery model lines at JLR.

“If you look from a product perspective, Defender came in and sat quite squarely on top of Discovery and cannibalized a lot of that business,” he said. “Recreating what Discovery stands for, we absolutely have to make sure it sits in a really unique territory.”

The two SUVs share a platform and production site, and their prices overlap, but the Defender is the clear winner in the sales race. Last year, JLR sold 110,367 Defenders globally versus just 16,750 examples of the Discovery.

Those Discovery figures represent about 4% of JLR’s total sales but the company doesn’t plan to drop the nameplate. The Discovery is positioned as a family-oriented SUV while the Defender targets buyers with more active lifestyles, and this distinction may be further emphasized with the next generation.

Autocar reported that the Discovery may adopt more van-like elements for its design, with the Volkswagen ID.Buzz possibly being an influence. However, the Discovery won’t be an electric vehicle like the VW, though an EV option is expected to be offered alongside powertrain options that use a gas engine. This will be made possible by using the flexible MLA platform that debuted in the latest Range Rover.

Autocar also reported that a flagship variant similar to the Octa and SV versions of the respective Defender and Range Rover SUVs is being cooked up by JLR’s SVO skunkworks.

The current Discovery arrived for the 2017 model year, making it among the oldest vehicles in JLR’s lineup. A timeline for the release of the new Discovery wasn’t mentioned in the Autocar report.