The new Land Rover Freelander

The brand new Land Rover Freelander 3 is said to be arriving for early 2015, though there is much speculation across the internet about how it is going to look. This model has some rather big boots to fill, it does not only have to mirror the success of the current vehicle, of which sales grew by 36% at the start of this year in comparison to the last, it also has to come out shining next to Range Rover's Evoque. 

Exclusive images that have been leaked have revealed how Land Rover are going to modernise the Freelander model by taking some cues from the top seller, whilst giving it a practical and more rugged feel too. 

Setting this necomer apart from the Evoque model will be a more hard wearing yet basic cabin, made from touch plastics and fabrics which should be more durable. There will also be fewer buttons on the dashboard with this model than the one it is replacing, thanks to a touchscreen in the centre which is similar to the one in the latest Range Rover. 

Though this model has a similar footprint to the Evoque, the company are convinced that there is a demand for both cars. Land Rover predicts that the Worldwide SUV market will grow from it's current sales of 14 million cars annually, to around 22 million by 2020. The brand has also come up with three pillars with which to capitalise on the sales boom, dual-purpose, leisure and luxury. 

The dual purpose model in the range is the forthcoming Defender replacement and the new Freelander and the Discovery represent leisure whilst luxury is being looked after by the new Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque, which are going to be joined by a long wheelbase Range Rover and a seven seater Evoque model within the next two years. 

A spokesman for the company said that Land Rover is always looking for areas in which it can grow, so customers can expect two versions of the Freelander, set to be joined by a seven seater to appeal to buyers in the United States.

Both of these models will be built at the Merseyside Halewood factory, they will use a scalable steel platform that is being developed at Jaguar Land Rover's expanded network of test sites in the United States, Sweden, Germany and Dubai, as well as the United Kingdom. 

The Freelander model will benefit from Land Rover's range of all new four cylinder petrol and diesel engines, which will be built at a new Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton, from 2015. Land Rover have claimed that these will deliver leading levels of class and refinement along with significant reductions in emissions. 

The Freelander model is expected to be offered with the new automatic nine speed gearbox, along with the latest Haldex 5 four wheel drive system, which is controlled by a version of the automatic Terrain Response 2 system. A front wheel drive model will be available again, though promises to deliver a much better fuel economy, than the current 47.1 mile per gallon claiming eD4. 

The new vehicle will be more affordable when it hits dealerships than the Evoque, which comes in at almost £30,000. The Freelander is likely to have a starting price of around £25,000.