LUXURY French car brand DS will be going head to head with the likes of Range Rover, Audi and BMW with the launch of its first SUV.

The DS 7 Crossback is due to arrive early next year and in the run up the company has created a network of virtual showrooms where the car can be viewed and ordered online.

Kicking off the line up will be a high specification, limited edition La Premiere model priced from £42,650 putting the DS 7 in the same league as the Range Rover Velar and the new Audi Q5.

At 14ft 11ins long the DS 7 is slightly shorter and will be launched with two engines - a 2.0-litre diesel developing 180bhp and a 1.6-litre turbo petrol with 225bhp on tap.

Both make use of an eight-speed auto box with fuel economy rated at 58.8mpg for the diesel and 39.2mpg for the petrol. Emissions are 128 and 137g/km respectively.

Performance statistics are 0 to 60 acceleration of 8.3 seconds for the petrol version with a maximum of 141mph and 9.4 seconds for the diesel with a top end of 128mph.

The new SUV will be the first all-new DS model to be released since the brand split away from the Citroen stable in 2014 and features a cutting-edge interior with two 12-inch display panels replacing conventional instruments.

It also features what DS calls Active Scan Suspension which makes use of a camera system to read road undulations and adjust damping for optimum comfort.

Other high tech devices include active LED headlamps which rotate through 180 degrees when switched on giving the DS 7 an unmistakable light signature.

Optional equipment will include a night vision pack which alerts drivers to potential hazards in darkness at £1,300, a FOCAL hi-fi system at £990, automated parking and a surround-view camera for £600 and the ConnectedCAM dashcam system first seen on the new DS 3 which comes in at £350.

Standard kit on the La Premiere cars will include adaptive cruise control, lane departure and blind spot monitors and full connectivity with sat nav and wireless phone charging.

Upmarket leather trim, multi coloured ambient lighting and a BRM timepiece are also included on the launch models while boot space ranges from 555 to 1,752 litres and the car sits on 20-inch alloys.

An all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid version of the DS 7 is already slated for 2019 which is said to have a zero emission range of almost 40 miles.