- Land Rover officials say the new Defender targets the Third World but will also appeal to the "Californian surfer dude."
- Land Rover says its new SUV must be "capable, usable and abusable."
- An updated version of the Land Rover DC100 concept will debut at the L.A. auto show.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The new 2015 Defender will return Land Rover to its roots and connect with the Third World. In an exclusive interview, Global Brand Director John Edwards told Inside Line that the new 4x4, "must be capable, usable and abusable and appropriate for the Third World market."
Edwards admitted that, "sometimes we talk too much about the NAS [North American specification] 90 Defender and surfer dudes, and not enough about the Red Cross, Zambia or the Australian Outback. We want to get back to our roots, but it would be nice if in doing so, we can also sell it to the Californian surfer dude."
Land Rover has yet to officially confirm that the new Defender will be sold in North America, but Edwards' assertion that it must be, "attractive to the surfer dude who wants it in California," is the clearest indication yet that it is heading to the States. Land Rover will also show an updated version of the DC100 concept at next month's 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show to gauge U.S. public reaction.
The DC100 and DC100 Sport were first shown at September's Frankfurt auto show.
"I had predicted we'd get a lot of reaction and that some of it would be negative," said Edwards. "I was involved in the development of the [2000] Mini and when I showed the R50 concept to the owner's clubs, some of them wanted to kill us. That is what you must expect. Overall, the reaction to DC100 reinforced what we wanted to do and told us that we're pretty much on the right track."
Inside Line says: A no-nonsense, back-to-basics Land Rover should have global appeal.
Add A Comment »
akitadog says:
10:48 AM, 03/16/2012
Do Brits still pop their collars?
jeremy_c says:
08:07 AM, 03/16/2012
looks like a cross between the old Range Rover and the Evoque??
jcsupreme says:
11:16 AM, 01/26/2012
Damn its about time i see this dude with a female in one of his vids, a fine female at that.
nickr1 says:
06:43 PM, 11/24/2011
Hi, I was just at a dealer in NY, Nov 2011, and he confirmed with management that the new Defender will be sold in the US either end of 2012 or early 2013. Now if I could only find out what it will look like. And yes, I could find no confirmation for this online. I asked the dealer, "how sure are you", he answered: "we are already getting ready to sell it and it has been officially confirmed by Land Rover."
rks838 says:
05:56 PM, 10/30/2011
Nice to see you all keeping the focus on cars.
run_and_drive says:
03:33 PM, 10/30/2011
That concept in the picture looks like the exact opposite of "A no-nonsense, back-to-basics Land Rover". Nice work Land Rover.
terpinator says:
09:40 AM, 10/29/2011
It would be nice to see the LA Auto Show concept show a more off road oriented vehicle. One with tires with side walls that would be useful on a trail, etc. Also, I'm hoping the comments that it would be "abusable" also means that it will be reasonably priced. However, I'm guessing it's more likely the "surfer dudes" they are talking about are older rich or trust fund surfer dudes....
lolxd says:
08:05 AM, 10/29/2011
Hooray! A POS Land Rover for us poor but rather wealthy 3rd world scum!
rthinker says:
06:27 AM, 10/29/2011
Stop you PC BS. THird world is the perfect description and I would add socialist elements of the EU since they can't pay their bills.
jtaustin64 says:
09:31 PM, 10/28/2011
Yet another case of the common man's ignorance. The term "third world country" became obsolete when the USSR dissolved in 1991. The correct term to use is "Least Developed Country," or LDC for short. Come on people! Learn some Human Geography!