The 2013 Land Rover Freelander 2 has been unveiled following news earlier this week of its flagship stablemate, the 2013 Range Rover. While a range of all-new Land Rovers will be rolled out in the coming years, in the meantime, and in an effort to keep the current model ‘in vogue’, Land Rover are moving the Freelander upmarket and closer to that of its Range Rover cousins.

Exterior changes for 2013 are subtle, with a short list that includes: LED technology for the head- and tail-lights; brighter chrome trim for the grille and fog light surrounds; as well as three new paintwork colours, ‘Aintree Green’, ‘Havana’ and ‘Mauritius Blue’. New 17- and 19-inch alloy wheel designs are also fitted on the mid- and range-topping models.

More work has been done on the interior, with features that include a brand new centre console and the same Meridian sound system, with 7-inch colour touch-screen, as found in the Evoque now being available in the Freelander 2. The manual handbrake lever has been replaced in favour of an electronic item, making space for the Terrain Response controls to be repositioned behind the gear lever; all very Range Rover.

“The Freelander 2?s equipment levels bring a more premium look and feel to the overall driving experience. In addition, our customers continue to benefit from our refined and economical range of diesel engines and can now opt for the powerful and highly efficient new Si4 GTDi petrol,” says John Edwards, Land Rover Global Brand Director.

The Si4 is the same 2.0-litre, turbocharged, 4-cylinder engine found in the Range Rover Evoque and it replaces the Freelander’s Si6, 3.2-litre, 6-cylinder engine. The Si4 brings more power and torque to the range, 177 kW versus the Si6′s 171 kW, but also improved fuel economy and all-important CO2 emissions; around 8.7 L/100km versus the Si6′s 10.7 L/100km. The rest of the engine choice remains unchanged, with either a TD4 or SD4 2.2-litre, turbo-diesel, producing 110 kW or 140 kW respectively.

The 2013 Land Rover Freelander 2 will be shown at the Moscow Motor Show next week, before going on sale in October, with prices expected to climb slightly.