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Land Rover has decades of heritage in serious off-roading SUVs such as the Defender series of vehicles. It did make a Defender pickup-truck variant at one time for markets other than the U.S., and according to sources inside the company another new pickup may be on the horizon for 2017.
Loved by loyal customers, the design of the Land Rover Defender has remained basically the same throughout its history. Slight equipment updates and modern powerplants allowed it to keep up with emissions requirements, but the new model said to come in 2016 model is said to offer a much improved driving experience and a full complement of airbags and other safety systems.
A Defender pickup (seen above) has been built before, and was quite capable off road. A new Defender pickup variant would likely be just as capable, and offer more creature comforts.
The new pickup variant would be aimed at premium pickups like the Volkswagen Amarok sold overseas rather than more utilitarian offerings from Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota. And it is said to be a crew-cab, five-seat model with full-time four-wheel drive.
No photos or concept drawings of the new Defender SUV or pickup have been released, although we have heard it could look like the DC100 concept (below) revealed back in 2011. While we’re not sure the pickup will make it to the U.S. market, but the company did confirm the new Defender SUV would be coming to the States.
