Production of the legendary Land Rover Defender may have come to an end back in January earlier this year, but evidence that the 4x4 will be brought back to life in some form in the not-too-distant future has also been piling up over the last twelve months. This scenario now seems even more likely thanks to recent online reports that Jaguar Land Rover has applied to renew its ownership of the Defender name trademark. The company applied to renew the trademark in Europe back in May and did the same in the Philippines earlier this month.
Both applications are believed to be still pending, but the fact Jaguar Land Rover are looking to retain the Defender name reinforces claims that the company has future plans for making a modern version of the 4x4. Numerous reports have already stated in the past that the new Defender will be ready by sometime between 2018 and 2019.
There has been little in the way of official discussion from anyone at Land Rover regarding the next Defender, but various activities from the brand over the past year have given us some clues as to what plans the brand has for the 4x4. For one thing, Land Rover are setting up a production plant in Nitra, Slovakia which will receive £1 billion of investment and employ 2,800 workers. It is here where the new Defender will most likely be built.
Reports from this year also indicate that Land Rover are keen to introduce a wide variety of platforms under the Defender name which can appeal to many different types of customers, including both die-hard Defender fans and newcomers, and from farm workers to family motorists. It's also rumoured that Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division, which has created a hardcore version of the F-TYPE sports car and a hot Discovery Sport called the SVX, could also create an extreme off-road variant of the next Defender.
There were reports earlier this year that production of the old, defunct Defender could be revived by a chemicals company called Ineos owned by billionair and Land Rover fan Jim Ratcliffe. However, Land Rover have denied that they'll allow any other company to build the Defender and the recent reports on them securing the trademark will presumably eliminate such a future scenario anyway.