Land Rover Freelander 2

Along with the continued surge in popularity for SUVs Land Rover sales continues to reach record highs, and it's not the cheaper end of the market that buyers can't get enough of either; the Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are practically selling themselves. No surprise then that the new Freelander 2, making its world debut at the London Motor Show, has been pushed further up market.

Though the five-door Freelander has not expanded in size, there will be no three-door model. At launch, the engine line-up consists of two completely new engines to Land Rover, a 2.2-litre turbodiesel and a 3.2-litre straight-six (or 'i6' in Land Rover speak). It is likely that other engines from the Ford empire will be added at some stage in the future.

At first glance, the new car bears a strong resemblance to the outgoing model, but seeing it in the metal confirms that Land Rover has done an excellent job in creating a completely new car that fits in with the company's design language, while standing apart with its own character. The interior of the car is a massive improvement over the old Freelander, with huge strides made in terms of quality, fit and finish and tactility.

The amount of technology jammed into the new Freelander is a little bewildering, the most prominent of which is the adoption of a version of the Terrain Response system used on the Discovery, allowing the Freelander to adapt to a given driving circumstance at the twirl of a knob on the centre console. Land Rover promises a huge "breadth of capability".

Friday July 21