The Range Rover went on sale 40 years ago on June 17, 1970. An off-road icon, the Range Rover is known worldwide for its comfort and all terrain abilities. Later this year, Land Rover will will add a small, fuel efficient Range Rover to the lineup.

The four generations of the Range Rover

The small Range Rover will be the first new vehicle launched by the company since Tata bought it along with Jaguar. Tata, based in India, is the maker of the Nano, the world’s cheapest car.

The smaller Range Rover will join the standard top-of-the-line Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport, which is designed for on-road driving and doesn’t have as many off-road-oriented features. The small Range Rover will also join the Land Rover LR2 and LR4, which are street-oriented SUVs, in the company’s showrooms, so Land Rover will need to find a niche for the baby Rover that won’t steal attention from the LR4. That could mean a capable off-road vehicle designed to compete with the Jeep Wrangler, which would give Tata a vehicle to sell in India if the price were right. The Land Rover LR2 starts at $36,350, so the new Range Rover would need to be priced well below that in order to compete with the Wrangler, something Land Rover may not be willing or able to do.

The Land Rover LR4 has a starting MSRP of $48,100, and the Range Rover Sport starts at 60,495. It’s more likely that the new Range Rover will be priced between those two and try to strike a balance by offering more luxury than the LR4 but in a smaller, more efficient package than the Range Rover Sport.

The Range Rover was the first Luxury SUV. Before the Range Rover, off-road vehicles were pretty rough around the edges and didn’t have much in the way of creature comforts. The Range Rover’s focus on comfort as well as capability is partially responsible for the luxury SUVs we see so much of today.

Image via Land Rover.