News: Land Rover, with Jaguar, to Go from Six Platforms to Two - and No Discovery?

Now that Jaguar and Land Rover are both owned by Tata Motors, there are plans to share platforms between the two, using just 2 instead of 6 platforms to build the entire lineup of models for both brands.  This means future Land Rovers will share a lot of structural underpinnings with Jaguar sports cars.

Also reported, the Range Rover will get folding rear seats, and the Discovery will be replaced by a bigger version of the Freelander.  Hmm, that does not sound good to me.  We'll see...

Excerpt:

Jaguar Land Rover plans to cut down from using six platforms to just two, including a platform share between the Range Rover and XJ. Building a Range Rover out of the same structure that underpins the new XJ saloon is not as difficult as it might sound, requiring only limited, inexpensive modifications.
While the floor and front crash structure will remain the same, the Range Rover version will get a taller front bulkhead and a modified rear bulkhead, which will accommodate folding rear seats.

Read the whole article here.