It's the next Mitsubishi Outlander

This is the new ALL-NEW Mitsubishi Outlander, set to be officially unveiled at the Geneva show in March before launching in the UK later this year. That's right, Top Gear reader: ALL-NEW and therefore far more interesting than that rusty old £20 million Ferrari 250 GTO from a couple of days ago.

Mitsubishi claims to have invented the term ‘crossover' - a bold claim, as the word was coined back in 1795 - with its original Outlander 11 years ago. But this, the third-generation ‘Lander, looks more evolution than revolution. There might even be a spot of devolution in there. We're not sure.

Mitsubishi says the new Outlander was designed to the brief of ‘Solid - Safe - Simple': three words that, in the wrong context, could be read as insults rather than attributes. We're a touch disappointed that the pointy shark's nose from the smaller ASX hasn't reached its big brother, but then again big Mitsu SUVs have never been about flim-flam surfacing or glitzy styling. They're about no-nonsense engineering, and the Outlander promises more of the same.

It'll be available in both two and four-wheel drive, with the option of Mitsubishi's 2.0-litre petrol or 2.2-litre diesel engines. Precise power outputs haven't been released yet, but we're told the most economical models will emit under 130g/km of CO2.

In 2013, we'll even see a plug-in hybrid which, says Mitsubishi, will produce overall CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km. Impressive, but we're still holding out for the 300bhp version with the Evo's turbo petrol engine underneath. Unrealistic? Us?