All-New Defender Prototypes Are Already Out On The Streets, Says Land Rover

Land Rover has started the development of the iconic Defender’s successor, with

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by Michael Karkafiris

October 3, 2016 at 21:00

Land Rover has started the development of the iconic Defender’s successor, with prototypes of the new model already on the road.

The news came straight from Jaguar Land Rover’s boss Dr Ralf Speth, who told Autocar he has driven several prototypes of the new Defender. He also said that the design has been finalized and it looks ‘fantastic’.

The new generation of the Land Rover Defender will be based on the same aluminum platform underpinning the new Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. Speth confirmed that it will not be related to their smaller Discovery Sport and Evoque models. In fact, the new Defender will be fairly different from all their models, especially in body panels, because of its tough off-road orientation.

“There is no question of the new Defender just being an icon. We are working on an authentic successor to the old Defender. The architecture will contain a lot of elements that are different [from other aluminum cars],” said Speth.

The all-new Defender is expected to launch no sooner than 2018, most likely as a 2019 MY.