PARIS MOTOR SHOW: Oz specs for Disco Sport

Land Rover has indicated its new Discovery Sport will be priced from around $55,000 when the all-new mid-size SUV arrives here next May.

Unveiled in the French capital yesterday ahead of its global debut at today's Paris motor show, the five- and seven-seat crossover will take a step upmarket from the Freelander 2 it replaces.

Speaking at the global unveiling in Paris, Australian Land Rover brand manager Tim Kreiger said the Discovery Sport "will not cost more than [the Range Rover] Evoque".

As the Evoque TD4 Pure five-door starts at $53,395, that would see the better-specified entry-level Discovery Sport SE TD4 priced somewhere between $55,000 and $60,000.

That would make the Disco Sport at least $10,000 pricier than the Freelander, which is priced between $42,300 and $68,400 in run-out, but cheaper than similarly sized German SUVs.

Kreiger said exact pricing will be announced closer to next year's local launch, but the company clearly has Audi's Q5 and BMW's X3 (both of which are priced from above $60,000) in mind as key rivals. "We will be very competitive," he said.

Three trim levels will be offered in Australia (SE, HSE and HSE Luxury), along with three engine alternatives -- the 110kW TD4 and 140kW SD4 2.2-litre turbo-diesels (both offering 420Nm of torque) and the 177kW/340Nm Si4 2.0-litre petrol, all with fuel-saving idle-stop technology.

The Si4 will only be available in base SE trim, while the TD4 will be offered in SE or HSE trim only. The high-output SD4 will be available in all three trim levels.

The diesels are all teamed with Getrag six-speed manual transmissions, with the option of a ZF nine-speed automatic, whereas the petrol engine will be a nine-speed auto model only.

The all-new 'baby Disco' will come with a comprehensive suite of standard safety features, including autonomous emergency braking, Torque Vectoring by Braking, lane departure warning, seven interior airbags and a pedestrian airbag on the leading edge of the bonnet.

Land Rover's selectable Terrain Response drive system continues with a version in the Discovery Sport that offers up to five different modes. Hill descent control, hill start assist and trailer sway control are also included.

Also in the standard specs list for entry-level SE are 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights and wipers, a powered tailgate, rear parking sensors, leather interior, cruise control, powered front seats, an eight-inch touch-screen infotainment system and SD card-based sat-nav.

Further to that are five USB ports, two 12-volt sockets, dual-zone climate-control and Bluetooth phone and audio streaming.

Key HSE features include xenon headlights, auto high-beam assist, 19-inch alloys and front parking sensors,

The HSE Luxury gets a Meridian 17-speaker sound system with DAB digital radio and hard-disk sat-nav, premium Windsor leather and unique 19-inch alloys as its key features.

All models will come as five-seaters with the five-plus-two configuration as an option. While the five-seater has a full-size spare wheel housed under the cargo floor, the five-plus-two version has a temporary spare fitted underneath the rear.

All Discovery Sport models will come with a single-range four-wheel drive system controlled by a Haldex clutch. The nine-speed automatic has a low-ratio first gear to allow for low-speed off-road crawling.

A two-wheel drive ED4 will become available late next year but it hasn't been decided yet if the car will be available in Australia.

The Disco Sport's L550 platform is a heavily revised version of the Evoque underpinnings, with 50 per cent new parts. The rear suspension is an all-new multilink design and aluminium is used for the bonnet, roof and tailgate pressings.

Subsequent members of the new Discovery family, including the upcoming Discovery 5, will ride on the Range Rover's aluminium platform.