Land Rover categorically denied rumors of the classic Defender returning to production by chemicals tycoon Jim Ratcliffe.
“There is no way this is happening,” a spokesman said to Autocar. “We’re not going to let anyone build our Defender.”
An earlier report claimed that billionaire Jim Ratcliffe was in talks with Land Rover executives to relaunch production of the classic Defender by either purchasing the intellectual property rights to the car or parts of its production line.
“We can confirm there are no plans to restart production of the previous generation Defender”, said the company in a statement.
“Defender will always be Land Rover’s icon. Jaguar Land Rover has stated its intention to continue the Defender lineage with an all-new model. The Defender remains a key part of our future product strategy, and the development of the next generation model remains on track.”
The next Defender is expected to hit the market in 2019 and will be available with two wheelbases and in many bodystyles, as well as an independent suspension setup, a low-range gearbox and transfer case.
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