With a vehicle such as the Discovery offering so much potential carrying capacity it is hardly surprising that van variants have appeared during its history. However, the first Discovery Commercial did in fact materialise in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) as early as the later end of 1990, where the then tax laws made owning a passenger Discovery an option only for the rich and famous. It was to be 1993 before there was an official version of a Discovery Commercial for the UK market, by which time the variant available in Ireland was well established and selling quite literally like hot cakes.
That initial Discovery Commercial in the ROI was based around the standard three-door 200 Tdi powered passenger model with the obvious exception of the rear seating and the inclusion of an extended rear floor making a larger loadspace area. All rear side glazing (including the Alpine lights) was removed and panelled in with body coloured GRP to the outside and matching interior trim (blue or beige depending on body colour). The full electric pack was included as standard and some early models retained the side graphics that were standard on such Discoverys of the time. The initiative originally came from a main dealer in Dublin who had identified a need for such a vehicle through their customers, but the main distributors in Ireland soon took on the overall idea. The conversion work took place at a company called NVD (National Vehicle Distribution) based close to Rosslare Port in County Wexford (south-eastern Ireland), and involved everything from removing seats and glass to delivering the vehicles to the dealership network throughout the Irish Republic (similar arrangements were used for all Discovery Commercials produced for that market up to and including the 2016 model year.).
At the beginning of 1993 the European Union abolished Motor Import Duty throughout all Member States. In the Republic of Ireland the potential loss of revenue from passenger car sales was going to be so enormous that the Government there decided to introduce a new form of taxation called Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT). This added as much as 30% to the cost of all new (and imported used) passenger vehicles, which although saw a major reduction of the overall price of the Discovery range, still meant that the vehicle was beyond the affordability of the average potential customer in that country. Commercial vehicles of a certain size were however exempt from the full rates of VRT, and Rover Ireland (the then distributors of Land Rover products in the ROI) developed a new version of the Discovery Commercial that attracted a flat VRT rate of lR£4O and Road Tax (as before) of less than lR£20O per annum. To achieve this a number of interesting modifications had to be made to the three-door Discovery - the front seats had to be moved forward, the rear seats and side windows removed as before, and the rearmost part of the centre console removed altogether to allow for a longer loadspace capable of carrying a 2 metre load. The electric window switches were moved forward to a new position either side of the gear levers. There was no rev counter fitted to these models.
Sales of this new version of the Discovery Commercial for the ROI were very encouraging despite initial long waiting lists (demand far outstripped the potential supply that the distributors had plannedl). Before long extra units were being built at Solihull in order to meet the demand. Customers were pleased with the vehicle especially as most accessories became cheaper with the VRT exemption!
Meanwhile, potential Discovery customers in Holland were also facing high taxation rates and different rules for exemption. So the Dutch version of the Discovery Commercial required a higher roof and a small bulkhead behind the rear seats. Windows were simply blacked out and the conversion was available on both three & five door models, carried out by a company called Ter Berg and sold through Land Rover dealers. Relaxation of tax regulations in 1994 saw Land Rover introduce a left-hand-drive version oftheir own Discovery Commercial into the Dutch market.
The UK Discovery Commercial was first introduced by Land Rover during 1993 and like the Irish model was based around the three-door vehicle with no rear side windows, however the Alpine lights were left in place. The interior came with a full-height bulkhead behind the rear seats and up to one sideways facing rear seat could be ordered if required. Unlike the Irish examples there was no need to make changes to the centre console and all factory fitted options could be ordered including the automatic gearbox option. The vehicle was powered by the 200 Tdi engine and was fully VAT reclaimable. These vehicles were converted by Land Rover's own in-house Special Vehicles department based at Solihull.
With the introduction of the revised Discovery 1 in March 1994 came equivalent examples of the Discovery Commercial into the UK (with the same conversion as before) and into the Republic of Ireland. The ROI version had some differences - despite the price remaining the same the electric pack was no longer standard and both the new glovebox and the new centre cubby box had to be removed to allow for the extra loadspace (with the front seats being moved forwards as before). Despite this sales remained strong in both territories with waiting lists beginning to appear again.
A Discovery van was introduced into France around this time, once again based on the three-door revised Discovery 1 but with all glazing remaining unaltered. There were no rear seats and a level loadspace fitted to the rear of the vehicle.
For the 1997 model year the Discovery Commercial for the Republic of Ireland gained a crucial upgrade, with the electric pack and alloy wheels being supplied as standard (mainly because these items were now being included as standard on all three-door Discoverys in the UK, on which these vans were still being based uponl). The Alpine lights also remained in situ from now on and to accommodate the switches for the electric windows the front part of the central cubby box was left in place. During 1998 a driver's airbag was included as standard and a large number of final Discovery 1’s were ordered for conversion into vans to be sold during the early months of 1999.
When the Discovery 2 (or Series II) was launched at the end of 1998 there were no Commercial Van variants available straight away. With the new vehicle only available in a five-door configuration a conversion was always going to be slightly more difficult than before, so there was a delay until March 1999 before a new Commercial appeared, once again in the Republic of Ireland. This time around the vehicle came in two versions, again based on equivalent five seater (no SLS) passenger models and again converted by NVD at Rosslare. There was the "S" model which was basic and there was the "GS" model which came with ACE, front fully automatic climate control (aircon), front fog lamps, and roof rails (with most models even retaining the twin sunroofs!). Both versions were only available with the new Td5 diesel engine. There was also a difference in price of around IR£10,000 (€13,000) between these Commercials and their passenger equivalents due to the VRT (a lot of money for rear seats and windows!).
These new Commercials had the glazing in the rear side doors removed and replaced with moulded body coloured GRP panels to the exterior and white panels matching existing interior trims. Similar panels replaced the rearmost side windows as well but the Alpine lights remained intact once again. A conventional radio aerial was fixed into the front offside wing in order to replace the built-in aerial that was usually to be found in the rear side windows that were now missing. There was no further need to remove either the central cubby box or the glovebox on these new models as the extra length provided by the Discovery 2 allowed the accommodation of the necessary loadspace.
UK customers had to wait until 2001 before Land Rover introduced a new version of the Discovery 2 Td5 Commercial- which came with a full height bulkhead and most factory fitted options were available to order. Rear side windows were left in place but blanked out to the inside by one-way inserts allowing vision from the inside but not the other way around (with the ability to open the windows obviously disabledl). The SLS rear air suspension system was also fitted as standard to these new UK models. However, numerous customers in the UK still wanted Discovery 2 Commercials with fully panelled out windows, so a very large amount of the Irish vans made their way back across the water (despite strict rules laid down by Land Rover about distributors being not allowed to sell units outside of their own territoriesl). The lack of SLS on these examples did not seem to stem the flow of sales - problems with the air suspension systems were to prove somewhat costly in later years.
When the revised Discovery 2 came along in late 2002 (with its pocket headlamps) there were different interior colour schemes supplied for the lrish examples depending on the chosen paint colour, and the GRP panels for the Irish models now slotted into the glass apertures instead of covering them. Otherwise there were no major changes to the options for either that vehicle or the one available in the UK.
Just prior to the introduction of the all new Discovery 3 in late 2004 Land Rover UK realised that there was enough orders for revised Discovery 2 Commercials to warrant a special last build of some vans based on the new "Pursuit" and "Landmark" passenger editions. As there was not going to be any early Discovery 3 vans officially available in the UK at launch these last offers were snapped up by eager customers.
In Holland, their version ofthe Discovery 2 Commercial was unique by having the rearmost side windows and the quarterglass of the rear side door panelled in body coloured GRP, with the usual small bulkhead slightly further behind the front seats and a level loadspace. This allowed improved side blindspot vision and was designed to contribute to road safety.
The introduction of the brand new Discovery 3 in late 2004 saw independent specialist dealers building their own versions of van variants due to demand -in the absence of any similar vehicles being immediately launched by Land Rover themselves. These specialists existed in the UK, Northern Ireland and one in the Republic of Ireland and offered conversions based on all available types of the Discovery 3, both petrol and diesel models right up to the range-topping HSE versions.
The distributors of Land Rover products in the Republic of Ireland knew that as always they would have to offer a Commercial van version of the brand new Discovery 3 in order to make it worthwhile marketing the vehicle at all. There had been further changes to the Vehicle Registration Tax scheme and future planned updates to that policy would see emissions based levels of tax being introduced for passenger carrying vehicles. If anything customers were likely to be paying even more tax for the passenger variants of the Discovery 3 than ever before! So in 2005 the first Discovery 3 Commercial appeared in Ireland based on the entry-level TDV6 passenger equivalent- with no frills other than the standard air conditioning system. However this time around all glass was left in situ and the rear side windows disabled and panelled over to the inside with black trim. As usual all conversion work was carried out by NVD at Rosslare, and there was the usual level loadspace going right up to the backs of the front seats.
Early 2007 saw an enhanced version of the Commercial being launched in Ireland which had Terrain Response and the Bright Pack but still no Auto Climate Control. There were rumours abound at the time that these vehicles came about as a result of errors being made by the distributors when the orders were being processed, but sales increased quite a bit and the model continued as a special edition for some time.
In the UK two new versions of the Discovery 3 TDV6 Commercial eventually went on sale onthe 19th of March 2007. Both versions featured Terrain Response and had the full height bulkhead married to a loadspace with the rear side windows blanked out to the inside. Privacy Glass was also standard as were alloy wheels. With a loadspace capable of carrying up to 2130 litres and a towing ability of up to 3500 metric tonnes the new Commercial was ready for some serious business applications. The "Base" model had all the standard Discovery 3 fitments whilst the "XS" version came with roof rails, 18 inch wheels, powerfold mirrors, auto dipping rear view mirror, the full Bright Pack, heated front screen with washer jets, full front auto climate control, rear park distance control, the higher audio package with optional sat-nav, optional Bluetooth phone systems, and cruise control. A contribution towards the first 45,000 miles of CO2 offset was included within the prices of these vehicles, like all other vehicles supplied by Land Rover UK at that time.
There were other Discovery 3 Commercials launched in other countries including Holland, France, Spain, and most other European countries. Exports of the Irish versions to other countries did not happen because since 2005 all Discoverys sent to Ireland were fitted with speedometers reading in kilometres per hour, due to the decision by the Irish Government to change over all distances and speed signs to kilometres that year.
Despite the global recession of 2007-2009 sales of the Discovery remained buoyant and Land Rover UK, for the first time in the history of the vehicle, actually managed to release two Commercial versions of the new Discovery 4 when it went on sale during 2009, before an equivalent vehicle was launched in the Republic of Ireland! The specifications were similar to those seen on the outgoing Discovery 3 Commercials with both "GS" and "XS” models being launched. However these initial Commercials were only supplied with the slightly revised older 2.7 TDV6 diesel engine with the manual gearbox and not the larger 3 litre TDV6 with the automatic gearbox as found in the passenger Discovery 4 models.
ln Ireland the reason for the non-appearance of a Discovery 4 Commercial during 2009 was due to the bankruptcy of the distributors. It took until 2010 and the formation of a suitable new distribution arrangement before the launch of 2 new models based on the "GS" with the older 2.7 TDV6 engine and manual gearbox and the "HSE" with its leather seats, 3.0 TDV6 automatic engine and full sat-nav, to boast but a few standard fitments. Due to the weakening Pound Sterling, this range-topping "HSE" Commercial only cost €50,000 inclusive of VAT at 21% - unbeatable value especially as it also only attracted Road Tax of €275! (The equivalent passenger HSE cost almost €75,000 and had Road Tax of €2,000 due to its emissions being just over the 240 g/km limit!).
For 2010 Land Rover UK decided to offer just one version of the Discovery 4 Commercial which could be ordered with any suitable factory fitted options (and of course any suitable locally fitted accessories). Other countries also continued to offer their Commercial versions and as with all previous variants of Discovery Commercials, the mere existence of such vehicles served to dramatically increase overall sales of the Discovery all over the globe.
In 2012 the Land Rover distributor in the Republic of Ireland developed a new 5 seater N1 Commercial version of the Discovery 4, available in a choice of a base form or a higher specification form. This vehicle, being classed as a European N1 Commercial, could be taxed at the Commercial Vehicle Road Tax Rate (at the time €333 per anum) and was also fully VAT reclaimable. It was an overnight success, as it allowed considerable savings once again. This version quickly became the best-selling Discovery model throughout Ireland, despite a major lack of franchised dealers across the country (due to the recent recession).
However the Irish Government soon realised that many people were purchasing the 5 seater N1 Commercial version to avoid paying the passenger rates of Road Tax, and so they decided to change the rules to the effect that in order to tax this model at the Commercial rate, you had to be VAT registered. This is despite the fact that in all other EU states, N1 vehicles are taxed as Commercial Vehicles! The consequences of this change has seen many second-hand Discovery 4 N1 Commercial Vans heading for the island of Malta where the local tax laws favour such vehicles.
With the introduction of the new Discovery 5 in 2017, there was no official Commercial Van version available anywhere until 2018 when Land Rover in the UK introduced their new version, which has now been adopted in the Republic of Ireland as well, due to the fact that production of the Discovery moved to Slovakia in 2019. This version of ths Discovery Commercial is available with most of the features that are available on the main passenger equivalent model, and is certainly a very comfortable and well equipped modern Commercial vehicle!