Back in the summer, the Land Rover Defender 2,000,00- was revealed to celebrate the Defender (and the Land Rover Series which preceded it), and to create an iconic celebratory model as the Defender ended production at the end of 2015.
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For 68 years, the old-school Defender has been at the heart of Land Rover’s image as a posh-yet-rugged, go-anywhere brand.
Land Rover The Defender is credited as the first true SUV, starting all the way back in 1948 with the Series I Land Rover. However, retail volumes in China were down 22% for the month, reflecting slowdown in the economy. “They have an opinion on how to do it, but it’s a huge opportunity at the same time”. Best-sellers for the month included the Range Rover Sport, 13 per cent up year-on-year, the Land Rover Discovery, 7 per cent up, and the Range Rover, which was 15 per cent up on the previous year.
Upbeat markets in the United Kingdom and Europe helped Jaguar Land Rover post solid sales number for the month of November – a momentum it continued following bumper sales in October. “It will bear no resemblance to those Defender concepts”, he added, referring to the DC100 design study that was introduced at the 2011 edition of the Frankfurt Motor Show. “We need to build a critical mass in order to sustain ourselves in the long term and reinvest”. According to him, the brand will be looking to sell over 100,000 Defenders per annum globally instead of just 10,000 a year.
It will also illustrate the journey of an icon that has travelled the world, playing a key role in expeditions and touching the lives of countless millions through Land Rover’s humanitarian and conservation work with partners such as the British Red Cross and the Born Free Foundation.
The design of the new Defenders is under wraps.
The new Defender, whose design theme has not been disclosed by Land Rover executives, will nevertheless have a different look than the concepts that the automaker has shown in recent years.
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“When this vehicle comes out, people will know it’s a Defender, it’s a modern Defender”, said the designer.
