Looks like the Defender got a fairly substantial facelift for the 2026 MY. New headlights & taillights, new front & rear bumpers, upgraded 13.1” touchscreen, new colors, adaptive off-road cruise control and more. Powertrain lineup hasn’t fully been announced, but the 5.0 V8 remains. Also, they all come with a black grille, and there is no more option for a silver one.

Despite being a substantial facelift, it’s hard to notice the changes, which is a good thing. Why mess with something that works so well to begin with.

There is some dumb ****, like removing the LR badge from the center caps, and replacing Pangea Green with this baby diarrhea-looking Woolstone Green. Also, the bottom trim is now gloss black or gloss Carpathian Grey. That’s bloody stupid, as the gloss lower trim and wheel arches look ridiculous, and scratch and road rash very easily.

There’s also a new 7-spoke 22” wheel that looks like the original Nissan GT-R wheels, and they look bloody awful. And the now-mandatory driver camera, that beeps and buzzes at you if you look away for three seconds thanks to invasive EU-mandates. But overall, a substantial facelift that’s subtle. Well done, JLR!

I personally still see zero reason to upgrade from my 2021MY 110.

 

Cincy with the breaking news!

Agree. Almost hard to notice.

They are selling so many of these things -- and the factory has apparently been at capacity since it went online in 2020 or so (As reported in the past couple weeks by the Intercooler UK podcast) -- so really no need to stimulate sales with a visual facelift, which is all a facelift actually is supposed to do.

BTW I prefer the old taillights. With the recesses. Can’t quite tell any difference with the headlamps yet.

 

Agreed, the old taillights are better. The new ones have different lenses, and the dual squares in the DRLs are fully solid instead of just the outlines.




At least they are doing it right, unlike BMW, who like to fck everything up.

 

I’ve been dreading this moment. What a wrought!

 

Thanks for the sneak peek, CincyRovers. Changes are subtle, but blend well. Would have to see one in person, but I think I prefer the new taillights. The flush design makes them seem more polished, where the originals now look notch-y compared to the smooth, new design. And the current recessed taillights on my ‘22 seem to attract and gather a lot of road dust and grit. Feels like I’m always poking a rag into the corners of them to keep them clean. Can’t wait to read more about them and see more media pics before roll-out. Eager to see interior changes, too.

 

More terrible changes:
- No “DEFENDER” script on vents anymore
- Weird screen thing on steering column
- No holes in plastic trim around fog light area
- Just flat plastic on bonnet now - no chequer plating
- Tailights
- Centre caps now say “DEFENDER” in small script
- Flat around gear selector

 

Just noticed that the chequer plate-look trim on the hood has been removed for a goofy-looking square pattern. LR throwing away more of their rich heritage…. Half of the panel is flat, while the other half has the “squircle” motif. How tacky is that?

 

There are only three interior changes - the 13.1” screen, the trim around the gear selector, and the driver camera. Otherwise it’s the same as the 25MY.

 

Very very mild changes. It was already great, so no need for anything drastic. I like that new color green though!

 

I wonder are the new DRLs as poorly made as the current iteration.

Is there any sign of 18” rims coming back? I doubt it. More 22” rim options of course. Can’t have too many of those. Puke.

glossy plastic on the car is a bad idea. More tilt to the urban market. Shiny and pointless.