I am a big fan of the Defender, the most practical and long-lived model of Land Rover. But now it’s about to be replaced as the carmaker is presently researching the market for a suitable replacement with an eye on the failure of the three-wheelbase model to meet the 2013 rules.

A spokesman for the company said that there is a great enthusiasm inside Land Rover for a successor to the Defender although it is essential to its feasibility to discover exactly who the buyers would be.

The sales of Defender annually reached between 20,000 and 24,000 units in the past, but to compensate for the development cost for a replacement, the new model must hit sales numbers reaching 40,000 cars. Another solution would be to utilize the current Discovery’s T5 chassis/suspension likely to be shelved for the succeeding generation of Discovery and Range Rover Sport models due to weight-cutting measures. Although the chassis already comes in two wheelbase lengths, research must determine that equipping the Defender with the T5 would be economical to manufacture and still comes with the present model’s outstanding load-carrying capabilities. Although they company does not have the solution at present, it intends to find one soon. It might just be the perfect replacement for my ’85 desert stone colored Land Rover 90, the Defender predecessor.

Sourc: 4wheelsnews.com

Tags: Defender, Land Rover, Land Rover Defender, SUV, 4x4