Land Rover and its parent company, India-based Tata Motors, face the challenge of developing a new Defender without losing the values of the original. While they’ve promised to overhaul and reintroduce the icon, they haven’t said when it might resurface or whether production will continue at the factory in Solihull, England, where most of the assembly is still done by hand and there’s a wall covered with personal memorabilia from buyers.
The utilitarian workhorse, loved by the British royal family and farmers alike, has remained virtually unchanged during almost seven decades of production. The original design was so simple it was originally sketched in beach sand.
In January 2016 the production of this icon will end and the company has still not disclosed any solid information on a replacement. The 23,100 pound (USD35,100) car synonymous with country living has become outdated. Its raw metal surfaces are at odds with pedestrian safety standards. Its carbon-dioxide emissions are twice the European fleet standard, and it has no in car entertainment, mobile phone connectivity or cordless phone charging. Its airbag count is also the lowest in its class and has little improvement in its cabin cooling system.
The Defender’s demise comes as global demand for SUVs is set to soar 37% to nearly 26 million cars in 2018. Jaguar Land Rover needs a bigger piece of that pie after reporting a 92 million pound loss for the second quarter. Its answer has been Jaguar’s first-ever crossover and the entry-level Land Rover Discovery Sport, at 30,695 pounds and the jaguar badged F-Pace luxury SUV.
Before the Defender ceases production, Land Rover will sell about 20,000 this year which is down from a peak of about 56,000 in the 1970s. Its total 68-year production run will be more than 2 million cars.
