Autocar is reporting that the next generation Defender's exterior design and shape "has been frozen" - or in other words, locked in and finished. No other specifics have been leaked but it's understood that the next Land Rover Defender will not be like the DC100 and is equally as different to the current model.

Autocar are also speculating the new model may not be released until as late as 2019, leaving a potential 4 year gap between production runs. That will mark the first time in Land Rover history that they haven't produced a vehicle that's directly descended from the original Series vehicles.

Land Rover are aiming with the new vehicle to produce a line of "Premium" & basic utility vehicles that will be "desirable" in styling and achieve 50,000+ sales per year. According to a company source, the Defender has "never been purchased for it's looks" and the DC100 is now viewed as a "generic" take on the Defender within the company. So there is some good news.

At FunRover, we're not against a new Defender. Technology has advanced, as has car design. But, the DC100 shared few links to the origins of Land Rover, let's hope this new design is a little more sympathetic.

Source [Autocar]

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