Land Rover Discovery is the 2017 SCOTTISH Car of the Year

The new Land Rover Discovery has been named both Scottish SUV of the Year and Scottish Car of the Year, the third time Land Rover has won the award.

It’s more than a year since the new Land Rover Discovery 5 arrived (although LR don’t add a ‘Series’ number to the end any more), and it’s a very good effort from Land Rover to make the Discovery even better at what it’s good at, and a lot better at what it wasn’t.

The styling still shouts ‘Discovery’ with its design nods to the past (although we really don’t get on with the asymmetrical back end), it’s even better off-road and, more importantly, much better on-road.

So unsurprisingly, considering the terrain and weather in Scotland, the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers (ASMW) has named the new Discovery not only their SUV of the year, but also the overall 2017 Scottish Car of the Year.

Stephen Park, President of the ASMW, said:

Nowhere in Great Britain are SUVs more relevant than in Scotland. Our rural terrain and harsh winters make four-wheel-drive ownership essential for many.
This [the Discovery] is a 4×4 which remains true to Land Rover’s spirit of adventure – it really can climb mountains and ford streams – yet does all this while also being brilliant around town, on country roads and motorways. A practical seven seater that is luxurious and all-capable – the Discovery is the complete package.

With one in four SUVs sold in Scotland this year Land Rover Discovery models, and considering the aforementioned weather and terrain,it would have been a bit odd for the ASMW to plump for anything other than the Disco.

As a thank you for the award Jeremy Hicks, JLR MD, announced that Land Rover would be lending Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) – the ASMW’s pet charity – a Discovery for six months through winter to help make the work they do even more effective.

Other winners on the night included the new MINI Countryman, DS 3, Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus RS Mountune, Vauxhall Insignia Grad Sport, Mazda CX-5, Mazda MX-5 RF, McLaren 720S, Suzuki Ignis, Suzuki Swift and the Volvo V90 Cross Country.