{"id":41383,"date":"2011-08-11T11:30:08","date_gmt":"2011-08-11T15:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=41383"},"modified":"2011-08-11T02:18:33","modified_gmt":"2011-08-11T06:18:33","slug":"land-rover-bringing-all-new-defender-concept-to-frankfurt-motor-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2011\/08\/land-rover-bringing-all-new-defender-concept-to-frankfurt-motor-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Land Rover Bringing all-New Defender Concept to Frankfurt Motor Show"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The reveal of the new Land Rover Defender follows the launch of the British maker's all-new Range Rover Evoque.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(c) TheDetroitBureau.com 2011<\/em><\/p>\n

Land Rover will pull the wraps off a concept version of its big Defender model at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, with the maker\u2019s top designer telling TheDetroitBureau.com that it will provide not just \u201ca vision\u201d of what the next-generation SUV will look like but where Land Rover itself is going in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

Aiming to navigate rapidly shifting global trends \u2013 and increasingly stringent mileage, emissions and safety regulations \u2013 Land Rover is trying to reinvent itself.\u00a0 The first sign of where the brand is going came with the launch of the new Range Rover Evoque, the production version of the LRX concept first seen at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2008.<\/p>\n

One place the next-generation Defender is set to go is the United States.\u00a0 The model, which has been unavailable in the States since 1999, should stage a return in the next few years, Land Rover officials promised.\u00a0 What remains to be seen is whether it will also make its return with the new U.S.-certified diesel the British maker confirms it is developing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
News you can use!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Evoque, just now rolling off the assembly line, is a downsized, more fuel-efficient version of the classic Ranger Rover, and the first-ever crossover from the brand that, for many, defines SUV.\u00a0 The Defender concept coming to Frankfurt aims to blend some of the Evoque\u2019s new styling cues while emphasizing that Land Rover isn\u2019t abandoning the classic sport-ute.<\/p>\n

It will be \u201ca vision of what the Defender of the 21st<\/sup> Century would be,\u201d said Gerry McGovern, the oft-outspoken former Ford designer who now heads styling operations at Land Rover.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The current Land Rover defines the "lore" of the brand, says a senior official.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But that vision extends beyond just the big ute, McGovern and other LR executives stressed in interviews with TheDetroitBureau.com.\u00a0 The challenges for the company are many.\u00a0 Now under the control of India\u2019s Tata Motors, Land Rover intends to grow substantially, though it has no intention of becoming a mainstream luxury brand, insisted Phil Popham, marketing chief for both LR and its British sibling Jaguar.<\/p>\n

But to get even the more controlled growth it seeks, Land Rover has to address both consumer desires and increasingly strict government mandates \u2013 such as the 54.5 mpg fuel economy standard announced for the U.S. in 2025.<\/p>\n

That means lighter vehicles, with Popham suggesting the Land Rover goal is to trim as much as 500 kilograms \u2013 or up to 1,100 pounds \u2013 from the typical product over the next decade through the use of lightweight materials like aluminum and carbon fiber.<\/p>\n

Hybrids are also under development, the executive confirmed, while he also acknowledged \u201cthere will be\u201d a diesel for the U.S. market, though Popham would not specify when it will likely appear.\u00a0 But he emphasized that the technology will not appear in older product lines.\u00a0 To squeeze in the necessary gear to meet emissions standards will require “all-new products,” stressed Popham, designed around the physical requirements of new powertrains, whether diesel or hybrid.<\/p>\n

As the Defender concept will demonstrate, Land Rover wants to significantly improve mileage \u2013 and enhance the drivability — of its vehicles without necessarily downsizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can create a design that isn\u2019t compromised,\u201d explained McGovern.<\/p>\n

While the Defender prototype will pick up on some of the cues of the slope-back Evoque, it won\u2019t be just an oversized version of the new crossover.\u00a0 \u201cYou might not see any resemblance,\u201d McGovern added cryptically.<\/p>\n

The challenge is to create an over-arching design theme yet also create distinctive visual identities for models badged Land Rover and Range Rover.<\/p>\n

Significantly, McGovern noted that there will likely be \u201cmore variants\u201d of the latter brand-within-a-brand to follow after the launch of the much heralded Evoque.<\/p>\n

The redesigned Defender will help expand the U.S. portfolio of Land Rover products, American marketing chief Kim McCullough confirming the next version of the ute will be able to meet State-side regulations.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s significant as the Defender \u201crepresents the lore of the brand,\u201d she told TheDetroitBureau.com, despite the fact that it has been gone from American dealer showrooms for a dozen years \u2013 and even at its 1997 peak only generated 2,500 sales in the American market.<\/p>\n

In all, the new model will be sold in all 174 national markets where Land Rover currently competes, McCullough said.<\/p>\n

In the long-run, added Popham, “The Defender replacement has the potential to do even more” for Land Rover than the new Evoque.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Land Rover will introduce a concept version of an all-new Defender at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. A production version will mark the return of Defender to the U.S. It will also mark a major turning point for a brand that, TheDetroitBureau.com reports, hopes to trim vehicle weights by over 1,000 pounds – while launching new models, hybrids — and bringing diesel power to the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41383"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=41383"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=41383"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=41383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}