Land Rover Hands Over 2020 Defender Test Vehicles to the Red Cross
It won’t be auto critics who will drive these around for now, but the folks who matter most during these tough times.
The 2020 Defender may be Land Rover's most important product launch of the new millennium, but like anyone with their head screwed on right knows, the world faces a far bigger problem than a profitable Q1. That's why Land Rover has replaced its plans for the Defender rollout—which involved getting it into the hands the media—by recommitting its fleet of Defender demo vehicles to the Red Cross' international fight against coronavirus.
Land Rover announced the new plan for its Defender fleet on Thursday afternoon, specifying the Red Cross (a longtime user of Defenders for humanitarian outreach) as one recipient of the media loaners. The Defender will still get its time in the media spotlight eventually, via a cameo in the new James Bond film No Time To Die, though said film's release has been postponed to November in the hopes success at the box office.
"We've quickly redeployed the Defender press fleet to support our partners at the Red Cross to help communities across the UK," stated Land Rover's communications director Richard Agnew on social media.
While some segments of the transportation industry think they have a right to continued existence, it's good to see that even the financially troubled Jaguar Land Rover has decided it's more important to chip in than beg for government assistance. We're in this together, after all, and we have to play our parts whether we want to or not.
The Drive contacted Land Rover for additional details on how many Defenders are being loaned out and to which organizations, and we will update when we receive a statement.
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