Land Rover has started the development of the all-new Defender and prototypes of the new model, set to replace the iconic Defender, are already on the road.
Jaguar Land Rover boss Dr Ralf Speth, says that he has driven several prototypes of the new Defender.
The new generation of the Land Rover Defender will share the same aluminum platform underpinning the new Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. It will not be related to the smaller Discovery Sport and Evoque models, however. Because of its tough off-road orientation, the new Defender will be fairly different from all the Land Rover models, especially in body panels.
“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 in 2018, or more likely as a 2019 MY.