land-rover-discovery-vision-concept-live-e

Land Rover has announced the first member of the new Discovery family (in the same way the Range Rover has its own family) - the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

For an idea of how it could look, look no further than the Discovery Vision concept (pictured) that's just been unveiled at the ongoing NY show.

"I am proud to confirm the nameplate that will make Discovery a family of vehicles for the first time. It will be called Discovery Sport and will go on sale in 2015," said design director and chief creative officer Gerry McGovern. He added that it "will be the most versatile and capable SUV in its segment."

The new Discovery family is set to replace not only the current Discovery, but the Freelander as well. The Discovery Vision concept packs some interesting features, including Range Rover family-inspired styling, a deployable rear sill step, suicide doors and a touch-screen infotainment system.

Of course, there's the Transparent Bonnet - front grille-mounted cameras record and feed images of the terrain beneath the car to a head-up display, allowing the driver to 'see' the ground under the bonnet as well as the angle and position of the front wheels.

Lasers also feature in the headlamps and projection of visible markings, symbols and imagery on to ground surfaces to aid driving through tight spaces and uneven terrain. They can even measure the depth of a body of water before the car wades through it.

Finally, there's Remote Control Drive, which allows you to control the car at very slow speeds while outside the car - useful when you need to do external spotting during extreme off-roading.

Of course, it remains to be seen how much of this tech will actually make it to the production Discovery Sport - fingers crossed, then!