Matthew Taylor, Land Rovers managing director told Automotive News in Montreux, Switzerland, that Land Rover engineers are currently working on a replacement for Defender.
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".
According to Automotive News the next Defender will use Land Rovers new T5 platform architecture, a similar platform used for the new Discovery 3 / LR3 and upcoming Range Sport as Land Rover is moving to simplify its platforms from four to two.
Land Rover sells 27,000 Defenders a year. Defenders replacement will need to be easier to assemble, current Defender is still very much hand built compared to new Discovery which is 60 percent automated.
Sources did not confirm engines or any other specifications but recent reports from other sources have suggested a new inline-6 petrol and Land Rovers new TDV6. Unfortunately there are yet to be reports of petrol or diesel V8's, both are must haves for successful sales in North America.
Courtesy: The Land Rover Chronicle
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Written
By admin
on 20/3/2005 |
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