The new Defender will come in a wide variety of models and among them one is a pick-up truck which is going to compete head on against Mercedes X-Class
Land Rover Defender is one of the iconic off-road vehicles in the world which started its production in 1983 and the British manufacturer rolled off the final Defender on 29th January 2016. But the manufacturer is not going to kill the brand as they are already working on new generation of Defender and it will be revealed later this year.
The new Defender will come in a wide variety of models and among them one is a pick-up truck which is going to compete head on against Mercedes X-Class. The pick-up market is really huge in US and they have started to pick up momentum in Europe also.
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In Africa and other emerging markets, they play an important role because of the versatile nature. Land Rover is going to develop single cab variant of Defender as it will be difficult to develop double cab variant with new platform. One of the important hurdle for Land Rover is to make them reliable as they are going to compete against
Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux pickup trucks in Africa which are known for their bullet proof reliability. Usually pick-up track doesn’t come with hybrid or electric powertrain as they stick to traditional diesel and petrol engine.
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Even though Land Rover is developing hybrid engine they won’t be used in workhorse and it will be powered by 2.0 L Ingenium series of engines from JLR. The payload capacity of the Land Rover Defender pick-up truck will be similar to Nissan Navara. Land Rover is developing different versions of Defender pick-up and they are targeting premium category also as it will be more luxurious than Mercedes X-Class.
Land Rover is going to introduce Defender during the 70 years celebration of the brand and it will be an ideal location to introduce such a heritage vehicle. The new Defender is going to be manufactured at Slovakia plant and there could be a possibility to built new Defender at the upcoming Mexico plant. Land Rover is expected to introduce new generation Defender next year in India and it doesn’t have a direct rival now.
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