Jaguar Land Rover says the storied Defender 4x4 SUV will return to the U.S. and Canadian markets in 2020, with details to be revealed in 2019.
“There are a handful of automobiles that are beloved around the world and stand for a brand, a country and a distinct way of life. The Land Rover Defender is such a singular vehicle,” Kim McCullough, vice president-marketing for Jaguar Land Rover North America, says in a statement.
Beloved by celebrities and royalty, but not by government safety advocates, the Defender 90 and 110 wagon were pulled from the U.S. market after a five-year run in 1997. Land Rover decided against modifying the low-volume vehicle to fit it with front and side-impact airbags, which became a U.S. safety requirement for vehicles in 1998.
The automaker had only been able to import a small number, because the vehicle, basically unchanged from 1948 through 2016, fell shy of government safety standards. Land Rover had fitted those 1990s Defender 110s with a full external roll cage to help it meet roof-crush standards before being asked to comply with airbag rules.
Much smaller volumes of Defenders, reportedly 25 per year, were imported into Canada in the 1990s.
Wards Intelligence data shows some 6,945 Defenders were sold in the U.S. from 1992 through 1998.
The vehicle also was sold from the 1940s through 1970s in the U.S. (then called the Series 1, 2 or 3). Rover left the U.S. market in the 1970s because of increasing safety and emission standards coupled with low volumes.
All Defenders that came to the U.S. in the 1990s were powered by a General Motors-designed all-aluminum V-8 that first entered production in the 1961 Buick Special. GM sold the manufacturing rights and tooling for the engine to Rover in 1966.
In its statement, JLR says testing of the new-generation Defender is under way and the first development mules and prototypes arrived in North America in early December.
“Engineers will subject the vehicle to rigorous test extremes to make sure the new Defender is the most off-road capable Land Rover vehicle ever,” the automaker says, noting the vehicle must operate in the most extreme temperatures and altitudes – -40°F to 120°F and 13,000 ft. (3,962 m) above sea level.
While the original Defender, which Land Rover says may have been the very first automobile many people saw, was incredibly basic by today’s standards, the new Defender will have all the modern conveniences.
“With an all-new exterior and interior design, as well as a suite of the latest driver assistance and connectivity features available, the next-generation Defender will be a revolutionary product for
Land Rover with even broader public appeal,” the automaker says.
Jaguar Land Rover invites those interested in the new Defender to sign up for updates at LandRoverUSA.com.
