UK automotive publication, Autocar, has published the first images of a camouflaged 2019 Land Rover Defender.
THE NEXT-GENERATION 2019 Land Rover Defender has been spied testing by Autocar in the UK. The camouflaged body in the main image is that of a cut-and-shut Range Rover. The new Defender is expected to be revealed late in 2018 before hitting dealerships in 2019.
According to reports, the new Defender’s engineering has been largely approved (as has the design which is expected not to be retro-inspired) with on-road testing beginning last year. Indeed, way back when the Evoque was launched, Land Rover engineers said they’d already begun preliminary works on the Defender.
Land Rover boss, Ralph Speth confirmed last year that the new Defender would be built on the same aluminium platform as the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Discovery but that it will be much stronger and the off-road electronics more advanced than anything on a Land Rover or Range Rover to date. It’s expected the new Defender will run a coil spring set-up like that of the Discovery 4.
It’s expected the new Defender will be available with a range of petrol and diesel engines from the JLR Ingenium family and with both manual and automatic transmissions.
So, why the delay? Some suggest it’s the low volumes the Defender sold in that made a business case for investment so tricky. Allegedly, Land Rover is targeting 50,000 unit sales to guarantee profitability of the project but, given the new Defender won’t be built in the UK but rather at Land Rover’s facility in Slovakia where it hopes to produce 150,000 vehicles a year… although how the UK’s exit from Europe will affect that remains to be seen.
Source: Autocar
Looks like a Sport, or Discovery.
Am I in the right place for a new Defender article?
Hi B-17, the body is a cut down Range Rover… the good stuff is underneath. – Isaac
“….Same platform as a Range Rover”…… does that mean it won’t be body on frame?
No more mods like lift kits or aux fuel tanks?
Will it need a lift kit? If JLR mean what they say this should be near perfect off the production line.
Really disappointed about the look. It’s not that I am looking for a replica of the old defender, but flat body panels do make for great mounting surfaces for many things when considering overlanding. Growing up with a couple of County’s, 110, defenders it was always just a case of when you need an accessory, build it and bolt it, those days are gone. And all these sweeping designs do not look tough enough for some big game hunting in Africa. The electronics however sound great, will they however give post graduate auto electrical training in rural dealerships?