SPY PICS: Land Rover Discovery unearthed

Land Rover's Discovery sales are bound to receive a shot in the arm from next year, when an all-new model arrives in global markets.

The new model will feature a host of radical new technology, significant weight reductions and styling to align the new model more closely with its Discovery Sport and Range Rover stable mates.

According to JLR Australia, the new Discovery will be unveiled late this year – possibly at the Paris motor show in October – ahead of going on sale in 2017. Based on precedent, Australia will be one of the later markets to see the new Disco, but it should still be here before the end of 2017.

In some markets, to distinguish it from the smaller Discovery Sport, it's anticipated the new Discovery will be badged 'Discovery Vision' – from the design study of the same name unveiled in New York two years ago. The current Discovery is badged LR4 in North America, due to the poor image of early Discovery models sold there.

As revealed in the vehicle pictured here – caught while testing north of the Arctic circle in Lapland – the Discovery 5 will go for a softer look, rounding off the traditional stepped roofline for something much more conventional.

Word is the Discovery 5 will adopt the same bonded/riveted aluminium monocoque body structure already pioneered by the current Range Rover and Range Rover Sport and will be built at Solihull like the two big Range Rovers. The aluminium construction will yield weight loss on a massive scale, following the hybrid chassis/monocoque construction of Discovery 3 and 4.

There's speculation that Land Rover is developing a petrol/electric hybrid variant for Discovery 5, incorporating a 2.0-litre Ingenium engine and eight-speed automatic transmission. It has been reported elsewhere that the hybrid Disco will offer an EV-only range of around 20km and the electric motor – with its high torque at low speeds – should prove ideal in off-road work. Proof of concept for that idea has already been rolled out for the world's press to drive.

Fancy new features for the Discovery 5 are likely to extend to laser-light technology to guide the driver in tight manoeuvring and indicate to other road users the Discovery driver's intentions. Laser lighting will also be employed, it's believed, inside the cabin to power a head-up display.

In addition, the production Discovery may come to market with Land Rover's transparent bonnet feature, which was introduced with the Discovery Vision Concept.

And the Discovery is set for a major upgrade in the cabin as well with the infotainment interface to be dominated by a larger, central touch screen.