Land Rover Hints at Next Generation Defender in DC100 and DC100 Sport

The Land Rover Defender is the iconic vehicle of the brand. Where the Range Rover cossets occupants in luxury, the Defender carries the most DNA of the rough and tumble Land Rovers of the past. Land Rover's DC100 and DC100 Sport that are being shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show hint at the vehicle's future.

Both concepts have three abreast seating that harkens back to the earliest Land Rovers and are powered by 2.0 liter engines with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Land Rover says that the engine could be either petrol or diesel and could be hybrids with plug-in functionality.

Obviously these new Land Rovers have four-wheel drive, but they also have a host of technologies to making driving off-road even easier. Terrain Response and Terrain-I both use cameras to scan the earth ahead and advise the driver of hazards and suggest better routes. Wade Aid is a sonar system that can scan water ahead and devise how deep it is and if the car can wade through it.

The design of the DC100 is meant to show that form follows functions and echo the design of the series 1 Land Rover and Defender. It has short overhangs and big wheels to aid driving over inclines; an upright windscreen to increase visibility; and solar panels that charge the vehicle's systems and reduce load on the engine.

The DC100 Sport is meant be to an all-out off-road vehicle. The windscreen can be folded down, and it has a fastback roofline and open cargo bed.

The production version of the next-gen Defender will likely not get all of the tech that is packed into the DC100, but expect it to take on these styling queues. Land Rover did not say when it expects to have a new Defender ready for sale.