New Land Rover Defender starts road testing

A few weeks back, JLR announced the resurrection of the Defender SUV. According to Jaguar Land Rover chief, Dr. Ralf Speth, the development of the new Defender is at a stage where the SUV is being tested on the road.

The test mules are still prototypes and with this pace of work, the new Defender will be seen at the production line by 2018. The new Defender will be nothing the previous models of the car.

The new Defender will be based on the same aluminum architecture on which new Discover, Range Rover, and Range Rover Sport are based. The upcoming SUV will look fairly different from the current Land Rover models according to Speth. The SUV will be very capable and will the looks of the car will announce the same. It will have aluminum elements from different Land Rover models, though.

Dr. Speth who revealed the plan to AutoCar UK said that the new Defender will be an authentic successor to the old Defender. The car being an icon for so long will get unique styling. The Defender model came to an end because of low sales volume and high production cost. The new car will bring in world-class off-roading abilities and general comfort of the occupants, something that the old Defender was famous for.

Jaguar Land Rover, which is now owned by Tata Sons, has a facility in Chakan new Pune to assemble their luxury saloons and SUVs in India. In an earlier report, JLR confirmed that the new car may be made in India. Jaguar is already taking quotes from the Indian suppliers and studying the cost of production in India.

If the production of the Defender starts in India, it will throw a stiff competition to the low-cost Jeep SUV that is scheduled to be launched in the market by late 2017.

Source: AC UK