THE LATEST Land Rover made its first apperance to the world this week at the Paris Motor Show and already there would appear to be a long queue of prospective custmers ready to buy the 'Sport' version of the highly successful Discovery range.

The Discovery Sport literally 'barged' its way on to the world stage on the River Seine, being shown off to the motoring press on board a giant barge complete with off-road course on October 1. It's actually a replacement vehicle for the Freelander and it is longer, lower and narrower than that car.

Described as a new premium, compact replacement for the Freelander, it is touted as being more family friendly with a 5+2 seating arrangement. Set to go on sale for the first time in 2015 it will only have one power plant to initially choose from - the 2.2-litre SD4 engine whis is used in the Evoque. This has been tuned to 187 bhp and should be able to get above 45mpg.

However, later next year the new 'e' version of that engine will also be included, with much lower emissions which should sweeten your tax bills. It will also be cheaper to buy at sub £30,000. Drive for all engines will be through a nine-speed auto or a six-speed manual gearbox, with the option of allowing it to be two-wheel-drive to save on fuel.

Prices start at £32,395 to £42,995 and there will be four trim levels.