Land Rover reportedly believes its time to make an important decision regarding the future of the Defender, and that means a new model will be developed or the tough SUV will be dropped from the lineup. The time is passing and Land Rover Decided to bring a new Defender concept, which is set to make its debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. The purpose of the concept is to see what kind of feedback an all-new model would receive while also demonstrating that Land Rover is serious about continuing the Defender.
John Edwards, brand’s director, says that he ‘can’t imagine not producing a successor’ to the 63 year old four-wheel drive that established the Land Rover brand. Still, much like the Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen, the Land Rover Defender is widely used by militaries and world organizations and that means it has to be built to some very specific guidelines. The production version is scheduled for release in 2015, and must sell in annual volumes of 60-80,000 units to be viable.
Edwards also says the new Defender needs to be different and unique enough to command a higher price than its large-volume and cheaper rivals, but the price cannot be too high to separate it from the market.
The company is currently exploring the possibility of using a cost and complication-reduced Discovery chassis or engineering a new, bespoke chassis among other options. Its design must allow for the wide range of body types that the Defender has long offered, and needs to be repairable in remote territory and this isn’t quite easy.
Finally, he believes that whatever solution Land Rover finally picks, ‘it won’t please everyone’, because with so many fans and opinions it will be difficult to avoid disappointing some. The challenge is to please most of them and more importantly, attract new buyers to a vehicle of which only 18,000 were made last year.
Land Rover is set to bring a concept version to Frankfurt and perhaps this move is to gauge media and consumer interest in an all-new Defender.
Price: is much too soon to talk about prices, but keep in mind that the 2011 Defender is priced around £30,000.00 (ON-THE-ROAD PRICE for Defender 110 XS Utility Wagon) and the 2015 model will probably be priced slightly higher
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