New Defender for 2015

Land Rover is set to unveil a new concept at this year’s Frankfurt International Motor Show. The concept is mooted to show the direction of the next generation Defender and is designed to gauge reaction from the firm’s loyal customer base.

The current Defender has been produced for the last 63 years and still has a loyal following despite remaining true to the original in many aspects.

Land Rover knows that they cannot compete with high volume Japanese models on price but they hope that the brand has enough kudos to command premium prices. Land Rover will also aim to endow the new Defender with enough advantages to justify the premium.

According to Brand Director John Edwards Land Rover must sell between 60,000 and 80,000 units to make the project viable when it is released in 2015. In order to keep costs in check Land Rover are currently exploring the possibility of using a less complicated version of the Discovery chassis or engineering a new chassis to keep costs to a minimum.

However Land Rover choose to resolve these issues it is unlikely that they will please everyone. The Defender has become a classic in modern years and its utilitarian styling is part of its raw appeal. It will be interesting to see how Land Rover re-interpret the legend.