Recent speculation about a reborn Land Rover Defender has been set straight during a conversation with Ineos – the multinational chemical company behind the car’s apparent resurrection.
Several stories had previously hinted that wealthy businessman and Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe was in the process of reviving the now extinct Land Rover Defender, just six months after the last model rolled off the production line.
With a new Defender not due until 2018, it seemed odd that Land Rover would consider licencing the old model to Ratcliffe and his chemical empire Ineos. In a conversation with Auto Express, a Jaguar Land Rover spokesman said: “No one is building our Defender.”
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It has since transpired that Ratcliffe’s intention was in fact to build a totally new 4x4 that offered everything people loved about the original, but without the compromises of drivability, safety and emissions. Ineos is expected to substantially upgrade much of the vehicle engineering, with the ultimate goal of matching models like the Toyota Land Cruiser for reliability.
In an exclusive interview with Auto Express, Ineos director Tom Crotty confirmed Ratcliffe’s intentions to “start pretty well from scratch.” The company has already commissioned full feasibility studies into things like intellectual property and costs, the findings of which will be published in December.
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Should Ratcliffe and his team consider the results useful, we could see a production-ready car “within two or three years”.
To quash speculation that the car would in any way be related to the Defender, Crotty told Auto Express: “We’re not in a position where we can use [Land Rover] brands or badges, but [Ineos] wants a car that captures the essence of the Defender.
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“Conversations with JLR confirm they are very committed to the Defender”, Crotty said. “However, it will not be the niche vehicle it once was. We want to build something that has the look and capability of a Defender, but with improved reliability.”
Should the project go ahead, Ineos hopes to make the new model in the north of the UK and preferably close to a port. It’d be priced on a par with the outgoing Defender – with the Crotty confirming: “that is the bracket we’re looking at”.
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