“Everyone at Jaguar Land Rover is hugely passionate about the Invictus Games,” declared Ralf Speth. “I am so proud the competitors will be among the first people in the world to drive the next-generation Defender when they compete in the Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge in The Hague,” concluded the chief executive officer.
The fleet of 2020 Defender prototypes clocked up 1.2 million kilometers at the end of April 2019, and by the end of research & development period, Jaguar Land Rover estimates the number of tests will total in the ballpark of 45,000. Here’s hope all this testing will help the Defender in terms of reliability.
So far, we know the 2020 Defender has independent rear suspension and air bags. The switch to unibody has also polarized opinion, but nevertheless, don’t forget what kind of people are buying into the Land Rover brand. The days when the Defender used to be known as the Series are long gone, and also gone are the farmers who used the body-on-frame SUV to work the land.
Thanks to the Modular Longitudinal Architecture, the 2020 model year will be offered with mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrain options. If you were wondering, the MLA also supports complete electrification. Officials at Jaguar Land Rover haven’t given any indication the Defender would go all-electric, but never say never.
An engine that we would like to see in the 2020 Defender is the Ingenium inline-six. The mild-hybrid powerplant is good for 400 ponies in the Range Rover Sport HST.
