We’ve heard so much about the Evoque that it’s been easy to overlook the proper Range Rover.

The Evoque has been a stunning success, offering some of the glamour and style of the big 4x4 for a much-reduced price.

But the proper Range Rover is having a major facelift, ahead of a launch in early 2013.

It’s lighter, stronger and more refined, living up to its billing as ‘the world’s finest luxury SUV’. Unmistakably still a Range Rover, it is described as a ‘modern interpretation’ of iconic design cues.

The all-new Range Rover is the most capable and most luxurious Land Rover yet.

Land Rover say the fourth generation of the Range Rover is an all-new model which has been developed from the ground up, designed to capture the innovative spirit of the original launched more than 40 years ago.

It has a pioneering lightweight aluminium platform which delivers significant enhancements in performance and agility, along with a transformation in fuel economy and CO2 emissions.

John Edwards, Land Rover’s global brand director, said: “The new Range Rover preserves the essential, unique character of the vehicle – that special blend of luxury, performance and unmatched all-terrain capability. However, its clean sheet design and revolutionary lightweight construction have enabled us to transform the experience for luxury vehicle customers, with a step change in comfort, refinement and handling.”

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design director, said: “Our design team worked incredibly hard to capture the elegant proportions and pure surfaces which have been a feature of the best Range Rover designs.”

Amongst the innovations is a version of Land Rover’s Terrain Response system, which analyses driving conditions and selects the most suitable settings for the terrain. To ensure durability and reliability, the new model has been subjected to Land Rover’s on and off-road test and development regime, with a fleet of development vehicles covering millions of miles over 18 months of tests in more than 20 countries with extremes of climate.

Customers have the choice of a refined supercharged V8 petrol engine, TDV6 and SDV8 diesel engines. Range Rover has been engineered with developments in vehicle technologies, from interior luxury features such as exclusive Meridian surround sound music systems and power upper and lower tailgates, to advanced chassis and driver assistance technologies.