Land Rover's brand new Discovery officially hits the road today with 4,000 UK orders already in the bag and up to 20,000 worldwide, reports Ray Massey from the launch in Utah, US.

The go-anywhere seven-seater - designed to cope with the rigours of extreme desert and mountain off-roading and the school-run in the urban jungle - is having its global launch in the USA

The US will be one of the biggest export markets for the new Discovery, the fifth generation of the model first launched 27 years, and we will bring you one of the first road tests later this week.

On sale: The US will be one of the biggest export markets for the new Discovery

Prices for the new Discovery start from £43,495 for the 2.0 litre 4 cylinder version. But they can go much higher, a special 'First Edition' version, limited to an initial 600 UK buyers, costs £68,295.

The new Discovery is curvier, more flexible and higher-tech than its immediate predecessor, but with seven seats as standard it is also practical, and being Land Rover needs to be much more than a pretty face – showing real mud and guts off-roading credentials.

The new 'Disco' was launched as Jaguar Land Rover today announced a 13 per cent increase in revenues to £6.5billion, with strong customer demand in the three months to December 31, 2016. Total retail sales of 149,288 vehicles, up 8.5 per cent year-on-year, were a record for the third quarter.

Land Rover itself sold 103,924 vehicles in the third quarter, down 8.7 per cent, with strong sales of the Discovery Sport offset by the run-out of the outgoing Discovery in advance of the start of sales of the all-new Discovery also officially launched today.

Last year JLR enjoyed its best ever full-year global sales of 583,313 vehicles – up three fold since 2009. Land Rover alone sold 434,583 vehicles last year - up 8 per cent year-on-year – with record performances in the UK, US and Europe.

The new Discovery has been packed with technology for the family

The new Discovery has been packed with technology for the family. That even includes a new remote control system that allows owners to configure their vehicle seating from afar via an app on their smart-phone in just 14 seconds.

Adventurer Bear Grylls recently tested it in mid-air during a sky-diving parachute jump from 12,000ft. Grylls said: 'The Land Rover Discovery is invaluable on expeditions, whether filming in deserts, jungles or mountains, yet it's still the perfect vehicle for the family's everyday use.'

Engineers also allowed their young children to 'road test' early prototypes – which led to them to ensure that up to eight electronic devices can hook up to the car's wi-fi hot-spot, up to four iPads can be stored in the centre console. There are nine USB ports and four 12-volt charging points.

Land Rover has reintroduced and upgraded the much-loved 'curry hook' - a handy push-operated spring-loaded hook on which travellers can hang the handle of a take-away, or a carrier bag, to keep it upright during journeys.

A big panoramic glass roof allows outside light to flood in. It has van-like up to 2,406 litres of load capacity when just the first two seats are up and the other five folded down.

View: A big panoramic glass roof allows outside light to flood in

There's also hill-descent control to help on steep inclines and a special 'terrain response' to monitor conditions ranging from general driving on roads, grass, gravel and snow, mud and ruts, sand and rock crawl.

For active families, the new Discovery can tow up to 3,500kg and can wade to a depth of 900mm.

It also has an autonomous reverse technology which helps the driver to guide trailers and horse-boxes into position when reversing without touching the steering wheel. So-called 'hitch assist' uses cameras to help the driver connect a trailer or caravan.

A single-piece tail-gate replaces the split tail-gate on the existing model and rises high enough to provide a shelter from rain when loading shopping. A powered 'inner-tailgate' acts as impromptu seating for a picnic. It is operated either by the remote control key or by gesture control, such as waving your foot.

The new Discovery has shed some weight too. Its single-cell body is 85 per cent aluminium, of which 43 per cent is recycled, making it nearly half a tonne (480kg) lighter.

The new Discovery will also be the first vehicle to be built at Jaguar Land Rover's new factory in Slovakia from 2018 to cope with expected rising demand

There is a choice of three engines, each linked to an eight-speed automatic ZF gear-box:

A frugal twin turbo SD4 Ingenium four-cylinder diesel producing 240 horse-power, fuel economy of 43.5mpg, CO2 emissions of 171g/km, and acceleration from 0-60mph in 8 seconds; A six-cylinder Td6 diesel producing 258 horse-power; fuel economy of 39.2mpg, CO2 emissions of 189g/km and acceleration from 0-60mph in 7.7 seconds A supercharged Si6 3.0 litre V6 petrol engine developing 340 horse-power managing just 26mpg, higher CO2 emissions of 256g/km but acceleration from rest to 60mph in just 6.9seconds

Although the bulk of the new off-roaders will be built in Britain at the firm's Solihull factory near Birmingham the new Discovery will also be the first vehicle to be built at Jaguar Land Rover's new factory in Slovakia from 2018 to cope with expected rising demand.

JLR has stressed that the UK remains 'the cornerstone of Jaguar Land Rover's business.'

It has doubled its workforce from 20,000 to 40,000 in just five years and invested more than £12billion in new product creation and capital expenditure, including at its factories at Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull.

Dr Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover chief executive officer, said: 'Continuing expansion and innovation in our compelling product range have driven up global revenues and retail unit sales, led by the Jaguar F-PACE, Jaguar XF, and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

'Models such as the all-new Discovery mark the latest step in our investment programme, which will underpin long-term profitable, sustainable growth.'