The new Land Rover Discovery Sport has made its public debut ahead of the Paris motor show. The long-awaited compact SUV is Land Rover's replacement for the entry-level Freelander SUV.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport has been comprehensively redesigned and lengthened compared to the Freelander, with new rear suspension and a ‘five-plus-two’ seating format.

It will be packed with technology, including a new infotainment system that will spread through the range and a new kind of exterior pedestrian airbag on the bonnet.

Land Rover believes that it will attract both the Freelander faithful and a new generation of buyers who wouldn’t have considered a Discovery before.

The new Sport is the first member of an emerging new-generation Discovery family whose incumbents will lay special emphasis on SUV practicality and stand between the company’s two other emerging model pillars: the rugged Defender family and luxurious Range Rover line-up. 

The Discovery Sport will be launched in India in the second half of 2015.