The modified concept of the Defender model will be revealed by Land Rover at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Although Land Rover relies mostly on its luxury vehicles, this brand has helped the company to retain market share after World War II and the Tata Group India, who owns Land Rover, insist that an upgrade is crucial.
The challenge lies in drafting and extending a new business plan with modification since the present model dates back to 1983 directly evolving from its original 1948 Land Rover Series 1.
The company expects new ways of achieving body modularity with better finish and custom budget starting either by creating a new platform with a separate chassis or using an adapted, challenging and cheap LR3 chassis.
The car maker plans to extract a greater share of the SUV market through the Defender, considering there’s a good amount of competition in that terrain. However, it has to be proved reliable to gain US-home market share and stick to a premium utility stance.
Land Rover aspires to sell 60,000-80,000 units every year along with attractive military sales owing to its parts business. Last year, 18,000 Defenders were sold and the company has plans to open a fourth plant in China, its biggest market.
