Land Rover Defender ‘family’ likely to grow – executive

Spotting the global appetite for box-shaped four-wheel-drives such as the Suzuki Jimny, Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series and the high-end Mercedes-Benz G-Class, British off-road specialist Land Rover says it “would be madness” not to expand the Defender family in the coming years.

Land Rover's vehicle program director for the Defender and Discovery, Stuart Frith, told Drive there is “nothing to report now” and gave no further comment on future plans.

However, Mr Frith said there is "huge aspiration" to grow the Defender family to include additional models.

Land Rover has been talking about its ‘family’ strategy of vehicle range expansion for some years, which will allow the brand to expand its showroom line-up using only a few model names.

Currently, the Range Rover family includes Sport, Velar, Evoque and the actual Range Rover. The Discovery range has expanded to include Discovery Sport.

While the Defender is available in three different body styles (90, 110 and 130), it is yet to have any co-named siblings.

While nothing is yet confirmed, the Defender brand could spawn a broader range of models that use different platforms and technology, as well as having a different focus.

Mr Frith said the initial success of the Land Rover Defender paves the way for future models, but not only for sake of the brand's bottom line.

“At the end of the day, that success creates jobs and livelihoods. And as you know, we make Defender in Slovakia, and there is a huge sense of pride in the number of jobs we have created there,” said Mr Frith.

“That really hit home last year, when Russia invaded Ukraine, and we’ve got a number of Ukrainians that work in the Slovakian plant. We were able to bring their families into Slovakia to be with the workers, offer them jobs and life security.

“And we have employed more Ukranians since the production plant has gone onto a third shift, to work in the Slovakian plant.”

“And for me, that is a big reward of work: if you create a successful product, you create success for individuals, livelihoods, for people who need a livelihood. Why would you not continue to do that?”