First Look: Fourth Range Rover model scooped

The latest news on Land Rover's X6 rival dubbed Velar

These are some of the first images of the fourth addition to the Range Rover family - a slinky coupe-alike crossover based on the Jaguar F-Pace to slot between the Range Rover Evoque and the Range Rover Sport. 

Codenamed L560, but internally referred to as 'Velar' by JLR suits - in a nod to the original Spen King-era Range Rover Classic three-door - this is an incremental model for Land Rover, reflecting the rising fortunes in Solihull as the world laps up more and more crossovers and SUVs.

It's also a car to pit Range Rover headlong into the sporty soft-roader segment. That's you, BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe. Traditionalists, look away now...

Yes, you read that right. This car is at a more advanced stage of development than you might think. The new Land Rover Discovery is next in the queue, expected in autumn 2016 at the Paris motor show - and this sportier, slinkier SUV is next up with a likely debut in spring 2017.

UK dealers are poised to start selling the newcomer in mid to late 2017, with price tags likely to surpass £60,000 and push way towards six figures in top-end spec. There's money in them their sporty, posh mud-pluggers.

But the Land Rover L560 won't go off-road, will it?

Surely not, if the typical market profile of the average X6 or GLE owner is anything to go by. But, being a Land Rover, it will have to have decent go-anywhere ability baked in from the outset. Those Jag F-Pace underpinnings mean it'll be based on the group's latest aluminium architecture, with a suite of six- and eight-cylinder petrol and diesel engines to provide the power to all four wheels. 

Don't forget the in-house Ingenium engine range will soon spawn straight six motors, to replace the ageing, Ford-related V6 motors. Needless to say, a nutty SVR performance derivative is a dead cert toting more than 500bhp.

Equally, the range could be stretched downwards to include four-pot engines like the F-Pace, should the market - or a global recession - demand it.

This is a Range Rover aimed squarely at driving fun and street side posing. Don't expect a seven-seat version, like on the Range Sport. It's an expression of just how luxury and road-biased the brand can go. If you thought the Evoque was radical, wait until you see the Velar, say insiders.

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