All-new Defender will arrive by 2019.
After 68 years of production, Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant stopped making the Land Rover Defender in January this year. Now, the company is working on the second generation Land Rover Defender that will reportedly arrive later this decade, by 2019.
The next-gen Land Rover Defender is still years away, and to avoid such a long absence in the market, the first generation model could be resurrected. According to a new report from The Sunday Times, Jim Ratcliffe, Founder, Chairman and majority owner of chemical powerhouse Ineos Group, has had a discussion with senior executives at Jaguar Land Rover in hopes to bring back the old Defender to the market.
It remains to be seen if the billionaire industrialist is interested in buying the intellectual property or parts of the production line. However, his ambition is to make the Defender in the UK.
The next-gen Land Rover Defender may be shown as a near-production concept vehicle in 2018. It's unknown if Land Rover continue with the tradition of using a a ladder-frame chassis, or use new monocoque chassis. Its arch rival that will enter its next generation in 2017, the Jeep Wrangler, though, will reportedly retain the ladder-frame construction.
Also Read: Land Rover planning for a family of Defenders
The next-gen Land Rover Defender will be made in at least two wheelbases, so as to offer it in multiple body styles. It could be manufactured by Graz, Austria-based Magna Steyr, the contract manufacturer of the iconic off-road utility vehicle's German-rival, the Mercedes G-Class.
[Source: Autocar]
