What's the news?

You knew this already, but finally it's official: the Discovery will no longer be a single vehicle, but rather a family of cars in the same way the Range Rover has become. The first variant to hit the market will be the Land Rover Discovery Sport - potentially replacing the current Freelander.

Leaving the luxury stuff to the Rangies, the Discos will major on family practicality and rugged off-roading abilities. The Discovery Vision concept shown at this week's New York Auto Show is essentially the replacement for the current Discovery 4 - it will be big, spacious and quite luxurious.

The official announcement by Land Rover's styling director Gerry McGovern tells us a little more about the small Discovery, which will be closely related to the Range Rover Evoque. It will be a compact SUV offered in both five- and seven-seat forms and will actually replace the current Freelander when it goes on sale in 2016.

McGovern said: "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.

"This will be the most versatile and capable SUV in its segment and is the first expression of the Discovery Vision Concept unveiled here in New York."

Land Rover is also planning a simpler, more rugged Discovery model, which will fit between the Sport and the larger Discovery 5. It will be aimed at the hard-working types who currently buy the likes of the Toyota Land Cruiser and could potentially form the basis for the next generation Defender.

Anything else?

Are you a big fan of the current Freelander and worried about its demise? Well then I have good news! The Freelander production line will be transferred to India and it will be born anew as a Tata. Tata of course owns Land Rover (and Jaguar) and it's not impossible that the Tata-ised Freelander could eventually return to Europe as a rival for Dacia.