It will measure 201 inches (5.9 meters) in length.
Rumours of a larger Defender surfaced before Land Rover’s September 2019 revival of the iconic off-roader. Official confirmation by company executives has been made that a three-row variant of the Defender is on the horizon and will go on sale in the next 18 months. The Defender 130 is the larger SUV. According to Adrian Mardell, Chief Financial Officer, the SUV will “hit a sweet spot” in North America, China, and the Middle East. An internal document from several years back states that the family-friendly variant will keep the Defender 110’s 119-inch (3,022-mm), wheelbase, while increasing the overall length by 13 inches (342 millimeters to 201 inches (5.100 millimeters). In the same document, the Defender 130 was described as a premium explorer with eight seats.
The Defender’s three-row version will join the other shorter versions, and new additions such as the plug in hybrid and the powerful V8 version. Land Rover may expand its lineup in the future as Tata Motors’ marque hasn’t abandoned the idea of a pickup. The decision to allow the truck into production seems easy given the segment’s recent boom. Gerry McGovern, Jaguar Land Rover’s design chief, says there is more to Jaguar Land Rover. He said that the company is looking at “what we can do with that name because with relatively low investment we can increase it’s appeal.” Defender will be a powerful brand by itself, I am certain.
JLR recently announced that Jaguar will be an EV brand starting in 2025. However, plans are underway to electrify Land Rover. Six purely electric vehicles will be built for the Range Rover and Defender families. The first zero-emissions model is scheduled for 2024. Although it is not clear when the Defender’s combustion engine will be removed, it will occur within five years.