First pictures: new Range Rover

THIS is it! Pictured here, for the first time, is the third all-new Range Rover in more than 30 years.

Designed by Land Rover, engineered by BMW and now backed by Ford, the new Rangie will make its public debut in January at the Detroit motor show, before going on sale in Australia in June 2002.

As part of a staggered launch, detailed photos of the bold new Range Rover were released during a clever world-exclusive media preview in Sydney today.

Engineering details and first specifications will be released on December 7, before the 2002 Range Rover goes on sale in the UK in January and makes its debut local appearance at the Melbourne motor show in February.

However, it's known the next-generation Range Rover, of which 800 will come to Australia in the second half of 2002, will be powered a choice of two BMW engines: a 4.4-litre V8 and a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel six-cylinder.

Using a full-time four-wheel drivetrain with fully independent suspension at both ends, it's said to continue the tradition of technical innovation pioneered by the world's first luxury four-wheel drive in 1970.

Since then Range Rover went on to become a status symbol for the rich, and the new millenium version will do little to change that perception, with a new advertising slogan of "Above it all" and an entry point expected to be well in excess of $100,000.

In the face of serious luxury all-terrain wagon competition from Mercedes-Benz, Jeep and more recently BMW, Land Rover says its most luxurious flagship ever aims to deliver best-in-class off-road ability and "incredibly capable" on-road performance.

"We believe the new Range Rover is the most capable vehicle in the world with the greatest breadth of on and off-road ability," said the chairman and chief executive officer of Land Rover, Bob Dover. "It is supremely capable off-road and one of the world's finest luxury cars." "The new Range Rover will attract customers who've strayed both to other luxury SUVs and sedans,' said Land Rover Australia marketing manager Glenn Forster, admitting: "because the current vehicle's on-road ability became overshadowed." The pictures show a daring, contemporary design with many instantly recognisable Range Rover styling cues, like a deeply recessed bonnet and prominent front quarter flaring. A large, four-louvre grille resides between modernised, wrap-around clear-lens headlights that contain stylishly intersecting large and small high and low-beam globes.

Rear lighting echoes that of the front-end, which also comprises two smaller, vertically stacked outboard globes (indicator and parking), just like the original Land Rover. However, the interior is said to be even more revolutionary, having used the most luxurious sedans currently available as a benchmark.

The new Range Rover recently began rolling off a new production line at Land Rover's Solihull plant and will be sold in 124 countries.