Thai
Elite Member
Vehicle Review: Land Rover Defender
Back in North America in 2007!
It appears the rumors are true: The legendary Land Rover Defender will be re-introduced to the North American market in 2007 (as a 2008 model).
How different will it be? For starters, it will have the requisite air bags - a major cause for it being pulled back in 1997. It will have to be easier to assemble - the previous style was largely built by hand. And it will have a newer, more modern body design on a steel frame.
More good news: Short-wheelbase, long-wheelbase, and soft-top versions are in the works, although it is still unclear how many of these versions might be bound for North America.
The downside? No V-8's are projected. Gasoline engines will come from Ford: a direct-injection four with variable timing, a 3.0-liter Duratec V-6, and for the U.S. only, a 3.8-liter V-6. Peugeot will supply a 2.7-liter turbodiesel V-6 for Europe (though the in-the-know Rover enthusiast crowd here in the States has already started the grumbling about no TDi diesel - so perhaps their jawwing will not fall on deaf ears.
Land Rover's managing director, Matthew Taylor said, "The Defender is important. It is one of the few genuine auto icons. Our challenge now is to see how we can successfully take it forward and make it a 21st Century icon"
As far as being easier to assemble, Land Rover is moving to simplify it platforms from four to two. (60 percent of the new Discovery, for instance, is constructed by automation and it's rumored that Ford wants the same level of assembly automation in use for the new Defender.) As such, Automotive News reports that the next Defender will use Land Rover's new T5 platform architecture, the same body-on-chassis platform used for the new Discovery 3 / LR3 and upcoming Range Stormer or Range Rover Sport (the newest mini-Range Rover slated for upcoming release.)
Land Rover sells about 27,000 Defenders a year to the rest of the world. It's high time it set its sights on North America again, where the mighty Defender's legendary off-road prowess will be put to good use.
Back in North America in 2007!
It appears the rumors are true: The legendary Land Rover Defender will be re-introduced to the North American market in 2007 (as a 2008 model).
How different will it be? For starters, it will have the requisite air bags - a major cause for it being pulled back in 1997. It will have to be easier to assemble - the previous style was largely built by hand. And it will have a newer, more modern body design on a steel frame.
More good news: Short-wheelbase, long-wheelbase, and soft-top versions are in the works, although it is still unclear how many of these versions might be bound for North America.
The downside? No V-8's are projected. Gasoline engines will come from Ford: a direct-injection four with variable timing, a 3.0-liter Duratec V-6, and for the U.S. only, a 3.8-liter V-6. Peugeot will supply a 2.7-liter turbodiesel V-6 for Europe (though the in-the-know Rover enthusiast crowd here in the States has already started the grumbling about no TDi diesel - so perhaps their jawwing will not fall on deaf ears.
Land Rover's managing director, Matthew Taylor said, "The Defender is important. It is one of the few genuine auto icons. Our challenge now is to see how we can successfully take it forward and make it a 21st Century icon"
As far as being easier to assemble, Land Rover is moving to simplify it platforms from four to two. (60 percent of the new Discovery, for instance, is constructed by automation and it's rumored that Ford wants the same level of assembly automation in use for the new Defender.) As such, Automotive News reports that the next Defender will use Land Rover's new T5 platform architecture, the same body-on-chassis platform used for the new Discovery 3 / LR3 and upcoming Range Stormer or Range Rover Sport (the newest mini-Range Rover slated for upcoming release.)
Land Rover sells about 27,000 Defenders a year to the rest of the world. It's high time it set its sights on North America again, where the mighty Defender's legendary off-road prowess will be put to good use.
