Land Rover Design Director Gerry McGovern loves talking about the new Defender, and he offered a few more hints at this years New York Auto Show which will likely leave enthusiasts cautiously optimistic about the future of their beloved vehicle.
Land Rover Design Director Gerry McGovern loves talking about the new Defender, and he offered a few more hints at this years New York Auto Show which will likely leave enthusiasts cautiously optimistic about the future of their beloved vehicle.
It’s hard to blame the Land Rover community for the skepticism surrounding the Defender replacement. McGovern and the Land Rover crew were also talking a big game about the DC100 concept, an abomination that reflected an apparent disconnect between what the Land Rover marketplace wanted and what Land Rover brass “thought” they wanted. McGovern has since stated publicly that the DC100 will be scrapped and the Defender replacement will maintain its rugged appeal and utilitarian capabilities. In fact, Land Rover plans to have the Defender represent an entire line or “pillar” of Land Rover’s new vehicle offerings, joining the “Discovery” line and the “Range Rover” line.
Gerry McGovern:
“The Defender pillar, it needs to be said to help put it in context, will be more about durability; about ruggedness. We want to make Defender very affordable. You’ll get versions that are very elemental in terms of what’s inside them, but you’ll have the ability to move it up and make it more premium, but it’ll be durable premium.”
A smiling Land Rover Design Director, Gary McGovern, with Defender concept cars DC100 & DC100 Sport in 2011... No more smiles... the concepts have been scrapped by Land Rover due to severe enthusiast backlash and critique.
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