2019 Land Rover Defender Already Testing On Public Roads

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

from 1948 to 1985, the Land Rover Series was the go-to off-road vehicle for anyone from farmers to Queen Elizabeth II. Then came the Defender, which halted production on January 29, 2017. Thus, 68 years of tradition came to an end. Fret not, though, because an all-new Land Rover Defender is due for launch in 2018.

The recipe that made the Land Rover Series and Defender great is rather simple. Boxy shape, utilitarian credentials, sturdy box-section ladder chassis, and a dependable 4×4 system in case of serious off-road action. But as times change, the automotive industries changes along with our preferences in cars.

Alas, the Defender has to change too. It’s for the better, though, at least according to Jaguar Land Rover head honcho Dr. Ralf Speth. The former BMW and Ford executive told the peeps at Autocar that he has driven prototypes 2019 Land Rover Defender. Spy photographers, you know what to do. Speth said that the design for the next-generation Defender has been approved by the higher-ups. In addition to that, Speth is adamant that it looks “fantastic.”

The cited story also contains a couple of quotes from the big guy at Jaguar Land Rover. One of them suggests that the all-new Landie is “an authentic successor” to the models that precede it. What’s more, the platform on which the 2019 Land Rover Defender will ride on will contain aluminum, but it will also be different from other aluminum-based architectures used by JLR.

Last, but certainly not least, Dr. Ralf Speth mumbled something that goes like this: “All our vehicles have to make money.” For what it’s worth, that’s the course of nature in the automotive industry, not greed. After all, this is not a project as demanding as the Volkswagen Group’s Bugatti Veyron. Some say that the Defender will be slotted above the Discovery and below the Range Rover lineup. Hence, it’s very likely that pricing will be more peppered.

Previous reports on the 2019 Land Rover Defender, which is due to launch during the calendar year 2018, suggest that the all-new model will be available in five body styles. These are two two-door models, a four-door model, and two pickup models with either two or four doors. Internally referred to as “Project Darwin” and known under the codename of L663, the next-generation Defender could arrive in concept form next year at a major auto show. On a different note, it’s rumored that a modern plant in Slovakia might handle production duties for the 2019 Land Rover Defender.