Report Claims the Next Land Rover Defender Will Be Packed With Off-Road Tech

The Defender may go from barebones SUV to high-tech off-roader.

byAaron Brown|
Report Claims the Next Land Rover Defender Will Be Packed With Off-Road Tech
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Up until it was officially discontinued in January, the Land Rover Defender was the go-to option for Landie diehards who refused to put up with all the fancy gadgetry that's come to be expected in your standard "Chelsea Tractor."But now, it's looking like lovers of the British off-roader will have to look elsewhere for basic four-by-fours. The next Defender is on-track to be the most high-tech SUV in Land Rover's lineupAutocar reports.

The remake of the beloved off-roader is being engineered with more technology than even the recently released DiscoveryAutocar reports. Though the details are sketchy as to what much of that new tech might be, Land Rover is reportedly looking to use fancy electronics to make the new Defender the ultimate off-road vehicle on the market today. 

Most importantly, however, the company hopes the new car will be able to live up to its predecessor's reputation.

“It was one of the saddest moments of my career to end production of the old Defender,” Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth told Autocar at the Paris Motor Show. “So we are working very hard to give it an authentic successor.”

The next Defender will be mostly aluminum, and will have a longitudinal, front-mounted four-cylinder motor as its power plant, Autocar reports. Its suspension will reportedly be a static setup, with steel springs instead of an adjustable air suspension. And according to the Speth, the test mules currently being tossed around by JLR engineers look "fantastic."

Though the car is still about two years away from release, Autocar reports that it will carry a starting price tag of about $43,000.

Whether it comes filled to its roof with tech or if it equipped with hand-cranking windows and no stereo—as long as it can off-road, we at The Drive will be pleased.

Pictured: Land Rover DC100 Concept

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