Jaguar Land Rover has announced the launch of a mid-range Range Rover. The new vehicle, codenamed the Velar, will be produced at the company’s Lode Lane plant in Solihull and will sit between the best-selling Evoque model and the Sport.

It will be similar in size to the Jaguar F-Pace and is intended to compete with the Porsche Macan and the BMW X6. It could mean a further jobs boost for Lode Lane and further work for the supply chain.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s chief design officer, said: “We call the Velar the avant-garde Range Rover. It brings a new dimension of glamour, modernity and elegance to the brand.”

He added that the Velar name refers to the first Range Rover prototypes in the 1960s, when the company “pioneered the development of luxury off-roaders.

When development engineers needed to hide the true identity of the 26 pre-production Range Rovers, they used a name derived from the Latin ‘velare’, meaning to veil or cover.”