Land Rover has been going back and forth about launching a pickup variant of the current Defender, and it seems that the project might actually be greenlit.
Don’t hold your breath for the utilitarian model just yet, because it is far from official, but a satisfactory comment came from JLR’s Executive Director of Vehicle Programs, Nick Collins.
The Jaguar Land Rover official explained, quoted by Autocar, that “we always said the Defender would be a family”, and while he will not speak about the brand’s future plans and possible new products, we should at least “watch this space” for any news on the possible pickup.
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That is hardly a confirmation, but it’s not the opposite either, so it likely means that JLR is currently doing the math, trying to figure it out whether a Defender Pickup (name unconfirmed, obviously) would be feasible.
The British car magazine went on to speculate that if given the green light for production, then the open-bed truck might be sold in the United States and in Europe, with South America and Africa being other potential markets.
Power could be supplied by an assortment of petrol and diesel engines, shared with the SUV model of course, with the pickup truck variant most likely to be based on the longer Defender 110. Lesser versions might be very minimalist in styling and equipment, but more luxurious models could sit at the opposite end.
The pickup version would come to complement the two body styles of the Defender SUV, the 90 and 110, as well as the Hard Top commercial grade.
