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New Land Rover Defender: Australian launch set for August

First samples of Land Rover's reimagined Defender will arrive in Australia in July, ahead of showroom stock due in August.


Land Rover Australia has confirmed plans to launch the new Defender 110 in Australia during August 2020, after the coronavirus pandemic caused a production line shutdown of almost two months.

The new Land Rover Defender is built at a brand-new facility in Nitra, western Slovakia. Along with the Defender, the new production line will also be used to manufacture other 'D7' aluminium platform models. Shortly after production began, the facility was closed on March 20th.

A Land Rover spokesperson told Drive the first Australian customer vehicles are slated to arrival in August, however some are delayed "beyond August" because of the lengthy production shutdown.

The production line has been back online since the 18th of May, and Land Rover Australia is looking to get more clarity on showroom stock "in the coming weeks".

 

Drive

The global media launch of the new Defender in March and April also fell victim to the pandemic, although a small group of media (including Drive) was able to sample the British off-roader in some challenging conditions in Namibia.

The Defender 110 will land in Australia with a starting price of $69,990 plus on-road costs, for the 147kW/430Nm D200.

Unlike other markets, Australian-delivered Defenders will come with Terrain Response and adjustable air suspension as standard.

There is a more powerful D240 diesel variant with 177kW and 430Nm, however the most expensive variant will be the 294kW/550Nm X P400, with an asking price of $137,100 plus on-road costs.

The Defender 110 will be joined by the shorter, 2-door Defender 90 in 2021, which will also lower the entry price of the range. How much lower is yet to be confirmed.

Drive
Sam Purcell

Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures.

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