Land Rover is preparing a replacement for the long-running Defender. It has been one of the most iconic off-road vehicles in history, along with the original Jeep and HUMMER. Its history began in 1949 and its run has included years of military service and use in developing countries. Over this course of time, it has changed very little.
Instead of keeping it fresh with ground up redesigns, the Defender has been a work horse. Thanks to emissions requirements and pedestrian safety regulations, it is nearing the end of its life. The next-generation model will be an entirely new, from the ground up model. It will share a platform with the Discovery and Range Rover Sport. As far as competition, the next-generation Defender will go head-to-head with the Jeep Wrangler.
Reported by Autocar Ratan Tata has announced that instead of calling Solihull, United Kingdom its home, the next-generation Defender will be produced in England. Oh how the world has changed. The Defender has been produced in many countries around the world by other manufacturers, but this will be a big change for Land Rover purists.
India was selected because the Tata Group, who owns, Land Rover is based in that country. Production there will enable the price point to be set much lower. While production will take place there, Autocar report that some assembly may be done in the United Kingdom.
Tata expects the new Defender to be a volume, workhorse model that sells in large numbers in developing countries. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to provide significant sales for the model. All of this is away off though; production of the Defender isn’t scheduled to begin until 2015.
Until then, we can expect a continued stream of news and concepts leading up to a debut. The Defender’s design has been previewed by the DC100 Concept. While Land Rover has said that the DC100 Concept isn’t a dead ringer for the production model, sources say it is a very close preview.
