Say bye to Land Rover’s Defender, replacement coming in 2013

Land Rover’s iconic Defender SUV will finally see a replacement around 2013, after spending 61 years on the market.  Land Rover’s off-roading image was built largely on the capabilities of the Defender, which has yet to see a major redesign to its bodywork since 1983.

If you don’t remember the Defender, it’s probably because Land Rover stopped selling the SUV in the United States a few years back.

New standards for emissions and pedestrian-friendly front ends will require Land Rover to build an all-new replacement or a detailed engineering of the existing Defender, said Land Rover’s managing director Phil Popham.

However, Popham assured that the new Defender will be more capable than the outgoing model.

“We’ll be really tuning up the versatility side and practicality side,” Popham said. “That for me is the core” of the Defender’s identity.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Free Press