LR Design Boss Blames 'Wrong' Number Plates For Discovery's Odd Rear

Land Rover's Design Director reckons the problem with the Discovery's asymmetrical rear-end is partly down to the kind of number plates fitted by dealers
LR Design Boss Blames 'Wrong' Number Plates For Discovery's Odd Rear

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s Design Director and Chief Creative Officer, has at last admitted there’s a problem with the rear-end of the new Discovery. A problem with the kind of number plates being fitted. Wait, what?

That’s right, despite conceding in an interview with Auto Express that the asymmetrical design of the Discovery’s rear-end has proved controversial, McGovern seemed to pin the blame mostly on the type of number plates being fitted to the vehicles, rather than the offset placement.

“You know what part of the problem is with that offset plate? It depends on what number plate you put on it. And it was designed for a slimmer number plate,” he said. Many dealers in the UK are fitting larger plates with the blue GB/EU emblem to one side, something which he says “doesn’t quite fit.”

Well, we fired up Photoshop and cooked up this comparison image, so you can judge for yourselves. And to us it looks…broadly the same, actually - although feel free to add your thoughts in the comments if we’ve missed something compelling.

LR Design Boss Blames 'Wrong' Number Plates For Discovery's Odd Rear

McGovern is keen to point out that the offset plate is all about the new car “tipping its hat to the Discoveries of the past,” which we get - the only trouble is, it was offset on those old Discos for a practical reason, with the other side of the tailgate taken up by a dirty great spare wheel.

Whatever kind of number plates the dealers are told to fit, we suspect the furore over the back end will continue. Not that this seems to be stopping Land Rover shifting the things: despite only going on sale in April, over 20,000 have been sold already.

Comments

Anonymous

Thats like saying im ugly because of my shirt not my face…..

09/19/2017 - 10:11 |
222 | 0
Olivier (CT's grammar commie)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Well, are you?

09/19/2017 - 11:59 |
28 | 2
TDN

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

feelsbadman.jpg :(

09/19/2017 - 13:31 |
10 | 0
DL🏁

Old Discovery was mostly with the motorcycle style plate which is even less slim

09/19/2017 - 10:13 |
78 | 2
Olivier (CT's grammar commie)

In reply to by DL🏁

How tf is this a Discovery, this is a LR3

Edit: OKAY PEOPLE I GOT IT, IN EUROPE IT’S CALLED THE DISCOVERY AND I SIMPLY DID NOT KNOW IT. IN NORTH AMERICA IT WAS SOLD AS THE LR3. I UNDERSTOOD THE MESSAGE.

09/19/2017 - 11:59 |
10 | 54

looked a looooooooot better

09/24/2017 - 10:09 |
2 | 0
ShadowHuayra (HemiPower)

This is the very definition of this

09/19/2017 - 10:14 |
30 | 2

I thought of this right at the moment i saw the side by side imgae

09/19/2017 - 10:31 |
2 | 0
Georg Blink - RevolutionArts

There’s no difference whatsoever :D

09/19/2017 - 10:54 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Blame the license plate designer

09/19/2017 - 11:01 |
2 | 0
German Perfectionist

EU plates in Great Britain?

09/19/2017 - 11:24 |
24 | 0
TurboManual

And how’s this supposed to work literally anywhere outside the UK, where we can’t really decide the size of the plate?

09/19/2017 - 11:56 |
14 | 0
TurboManual
09/19/2017 - 12:17 |
170 | 0

Much better

09/19/2017 - 12:23 |
10 | 0

My OCD thanks you a lot.

09/19/2017 - 13:29 |
34 | 0

YES. i still wonder why it wasnt like that from factory. You could still keep it that certain size in the middle

09/19/2017 - 14:37 |
8 | 0

The photoshop we needed.

09/19/2017 - 22:55 |
8 | 0

That’s sooooo much better!

09/19/2017 - 23:06 |
4 | 0
TurboManual
09/19/2017 - 12:17 |
10 | 0

Oh my gosh! That’s so much better! Why on earth was it ever offset!?!?

09/19/2017 - 16:39 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

So they designed it with Brexit in mind?

09/19/2017 - 12:17 |
10 | 0

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