I have been deliberating with a relation recently about the lifespan of the current Defender, and I'm wondering what YOU guys think. Will it last for a standard car generation, like 7 or 8 years, or go far beyond that getting moderate updates and staying somewhat current? The thing is, I can't imagine a 3rd generation Defender, and I think it would kind of ruin the point of the re-birth. Plus, we haven't really gotten a facelift. By now (5 years) most cars would have gotten a somewhat moderate facelift. The only real changes the Defender has gotten that are somewhat noticeable is the reduction of badging and the new centre console style.
I'm really curious to what you guys think of the matter.

 

Volvo xc90 had no major facelift for even longer.
Defender was trendsetter in a way, I'd say another 4 years?

 

IIRC, JLR stated that the Defender will have a longer production cycle than the rest of their lineup, which is around 8-10 years. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a 10-12 year product cycle with the L663. If that is the case, expect a mild facelift within the next two years.

 

Thats great news! I just think it’s a bit out of nature for the nameplate to be replaced with a new generation. I wonder if they’d ever dare keep it as their ‘old school’ car when everything else is (likely) electric by the 2030s. Or maybe I’m just in denial that such a great car could get replaced.

 

The Defender is JLR's cash cow. I don't think they'd risk messing with it too dramatically. Toyota was very reluctant to refresh the 5th gen 4Runner since its sales only seemed to get better over time.

You'll likely see a silly coppertop version of the Defender eventually. But given the sentiment in the market right now overall, with some manufacturers speculating how they can put IC engines in their EV platforms....

I don't think you have to worry too much about that. The seemingly unflappable dogma espoused by regulators and the crybully automotive press that the future of the automotive industry is inexorably electric is facing stiff headwinds if not outright rejection.

 

Porsche comes to mind, as they just last week announced that they are easing up on their EV plans. Porsche explicitly said that they can offer ICE in vehicles on an EV platform and that is true to some extent. The Taycan is on the J1 platform, which is just an electrified version of the MSB platform used in the Panamera and Bentley CGT.

The press keeps saying that the new 718 is going to be on the PPE platform that underpins the new Macan Electric and Audi Q6, but I’m almost positive it will not be on this platform, as Porsche themselves said that this isn’t sports car platform.

Based on what makes sense, and what I’ve been told by some Porsche reps when I was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, is that the new electric 718 will be on an electrified version of the MMB architecture that currently underpins the 982 718 and 992 911. That makes it easy to offer an ICE version, as they were already engineered to accommodate an ICE.

It is expected that JLR will move the Defender EV to the MLA-Flex platform that underpins the new Range Rover and RRS. It wouldn’t be hard to move the Defender on this platform as MLA-Flex is a throughly reworked version of the D7 platform dating back to 2012.

 

From a high-level I don't think they'll do much to it at all for quite a while longer.

It was pretty much the perfect vehicle when it was first released IMO except for the reliability / electrical gremlins and what not. That's really what they should throw their weight behind IMO is the low-level detail stuff, work on getting it to be bulletproof over the next few years.

The styling is on point and value retention is helped by staying true to the original aesthetics. Even something like the Evoque has not been drastically restyled since it launched. I personally like the JLR approach when it comes to that aspect of their lineup. Look at the new Santa Fe, they've gone all the way to a Ford Flex type of look now so if you bought one just two years ago it's already clearly 'dated'.

 

I would not be surprised if lasts 15 or 20 years. It is the best selling model for JLR worldwide.

 

Look at the Evoque, it was introduced in 2011 and still looks essentially the same, apart from minor updates.

While the Defender is still selling so well l don't think LR will do much with it.

 

Hell yeah if they get it to be Toyota reliable.
The only problem with the JLR approach to updates is sometimes it feels mismatched. Like the Discovery 5, for example. It's screen and steering wheel are both brand spanking new, while all the vents, switches and that are all old (and pretty bad IMO) looking, and I feel like it would be pretty disappointing if this happened to the Defender. Although, when the D5 came out it was a bit of a rough spot for JLR interiors....