Land Rover DC100 Defender Concept

Land Rover DC100 Defender Concept:

It looks like there will be a new generation Land Rover Defender and we’ll get a preview of it with the Land Rover DC100 concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show next month. Among the coupes, crossovers and sedans it’s refreshing to feel like we’re getting back to some raw motoring roots with the legendary Defender.

That might suggest though, that this is a wishy washy concept where Land Rover didn’t want to risk too much playing with an icon. Instead what we get is a bold design proposal that should carry the tradition of the offroader into a modern, 2015 Land Rover Defender production vehicle.

The big challenge for Land Rover has clearly been to envision a future Defender in a world where cars must be greener, sportier, more luxurious and far less hard core than the classic offroader. As designer Gerry McGovern says:

Replacing the iconic Defender is one of the biggest challenges in the automotive design world; it is a car that inspires people worldwide. The DC100 isn’t a production-ready concept, but the beginning of a four-year journey to design a relevant Defender for the 21st century.

Land Rover DC100 Defender Concept

So how exactly is Land Rover reworking that heritage? The DC100 concept is part of Land Rover defining and reshaping its brands and products to fit the current and future global SUV market. Divided into segments of luxury, leisure and utility, the Defender clearly represents the latter and will do so in the future as well.

Currently Land Rover is considering using the T5 platform from the Discovery and Range Rover Sport to save on developing a brand new platform, and to provide a small mix of luxury and leisure in the Defender’s utility philosophy. After all, Land Rover doesn’t just want to sell to the developing world offroad market.

Land Rover also has the option of developing a new platform but that would involve significant investment. Future cost cutting might be achieved with overseas production particularly in countries where Land Rover is growing like Brazil, China and India.

Meanwhile these are the only pics available so far of the new Land Rover DC100 Defender concept and no further information is currently available on the model itself. We’ll have more from the Frankfurt show, including live pics of the Land Rover DC100.

Source : Google Reader