For 68 years, the Defender held on to its working roots, becoming a British, and off-road icon. Finally, on January 29, 2016, the last Land Rover Defender, in its original form, rolled off the production line at the carmaker's Solihull plant in the UK.
However, the Defender badge has not been buried with the original iconic design. Land Rover announced that a new Defender family will be made available in 2019, and Defender concepts like the DC100 Concept were shown soon after. The radical difference between the original and the concept prompted us to ask Gerry McGovern, design director and chief creative officer at Land Rover about how the new Defender will be positioned.
The new Defender family, it seems, could have the widest span of all Land Rover families (the others being the Discovery and the Range Rover). It will retain its stripped-down and working class roots at the bottom of the spectrum, but will also transition to premium at the top. The design of the new range will continue to be iconic, but with a modern twist, while the wide span will ensure that the Defender, at least at the bottom end of the spectrum, will be affordable.
The looming question now is whether Land Rover will succeed in creating a new Defender family that retains its iconic design and charm, while simultaneously managing to provide contemporary comforts, reliability, performance and convenience.