Land Rover Discovery Sport to end production in December, fails EU safety standards

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The Land Rover Discovery Sport goes out of production in December.

Model doesn’t meet European Union’s latest safety standards.

Crossover could effectively be replaced by the upcoming Defender Sport.

Land Rover has an aging lineup, but one of it’s oldest members is heading for the exit. We’re talking about the Discovery Sport , which was launched in 2014 following a $256 million investment into their Halewood plant.

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The brand’s entry-level model used to be pretty popular, but age has taken its toll. In the most recent quarter, sales were down 49.3% to 2,452 units. That made it Land Rover’s slowest-selling vehicle, putting it behind the Discovery (2,561) and Range Rover Velar (4,605). It’s also worth noting the similar Range Rover Evoque did far better as consumers snapped up 10,615 of them.

More: Land Rover Updates The Aging Discovery Sport For 2026

Land Rover is now throwing in the towel as a spokesperson told Autocar, “Discovery Sport production will end in December 2026, in line with normal product lifecycles. As part of this transition, there will be a managed sunset of manufacturing ahead of this date for certain markets.”

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The model is reportedly no longer available to order in a number of countries and it appears the crossover’s death is related to the introduction of new safety standards – known as General Safety Regulation 2 – in the European Union. They require new vehicles to have an advanced driver distraction warning system and an advanced emergency braking system that can detect pedestrians and cyclists. The upgraded rules went into effect on July 7 and the Discovery Sport reportedly doesn’t have the required systems to pass muster.

There’s no word on a replacement and the death brings into question the future of the Discovery brand. Previous reports have indicated the larger Discovery is also living on borrowed time , so that would eliminate the entire lineup.

The publication suggests the upcoming Defender Sport could effectively serve as a replacement for the Discovery Sport. As for the Range Rover Evoque, it’s apparently sticking around. However, the model is expected to be phased out sometime in the near future, perhaps after the aforementioned Defender Sport is introduced.

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