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John Mahoney5 Jun 2019
NEWS

2020 Land Rover Defender nears completion

Replacement for iconic Land Rover Defender replacement shown testing, said to be near production

New pictures and a video of the all-new Land Rover Defender have been released following exhaustive testing in Kenya.

The latest images and short film of camouflaged test mules depict the near production-ready SUV during a deployment with Kenyan wildlife charity, Tusk.

Working with wildlife managers, the Land Rover Defender's role in Kenya is to monitor animals within the 14,000-hectare Borana Conservancy reservation, towing supplies, tracking radio-collared lions and putting the small rugged SUV through its paces off road.

In fact, so challenging are the conditions Land Rover engineers equipped all the prototypes with snorkel air intakes to allow for deeper wading across flooded terrain.

When it goes on sale in 2020, Land Rover claims the Defender will have completed more than 45,000 tests and millions of kilometres covering locations from Death Valley in the US to sand dunes of Dubai. The Defender has even completed hot laps at the Nurburgring.

Along the way the Defender has been subjected to temperatures as low as -40 degrees and as high as 48 degress, while also being driven more than 4000 metres above sea level in high altitude testing.

Designed, developed and engineered in the UK, the Defender will not be assembled on home turf - following the announcement production would move to Land Rover's recently opened plant in Nitra, Slovakia.

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The latest tease still doesn't reveal that much about the all-new Defender, other than it increasingly looks like it has been inspired by the last-generation Discovery.

Look closer though and it's just possible to make out circular headlamps with small lights to the side (albeit hidden behind a more aerodynamic perspex headlamp cover) - harking back to the original off-roader.

When the Defender finally rolls off the production line at its new home, Land Rover will offer two versions: a short wheelbase '90' model and a longer Defender '110'.

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Despite claiming it will be the "most capable off-road Land Rover vehicle ever", the British car-maker has already courted controversy by switching from a rugged ladder-frame chassis to a car-like monocoque that makes extensive use of aluminium to save weight.

Like the original, the Defender will also use the lightweight metal for its body, carving yet more kilos.

Under the bonnet it's a safe bet to assume the Defender will use the same Ingenium 2.0-litre petrol and diesel as the recently introduced Range Rover Evoque, boosted by the car-maker's 48-volt mild hybrid tech.

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Inside a leaked pic has already revealed a robust interior that doesn't skimp on tech, with a fully digital dash and infotainment screen present on the next-gen SUV.

A three-abreast seating layout could also be an option.

In the future a more powerful SVR and even more capable off-road SVX could join the line-up, plus a luxurious SVA that will appeal to those buyers who currently drive Mercedes G-Wagens.

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Land Rover executives have previously confirmed the Land Rover Defender SUV will be launched at or around the time of the 2019 Frankfurt motor show, which kicks off on September 12.

The order book for the new Land Rover Defender will open in late 2019 for Australian buyers but there is already an international Land Rover website where customers can register their interest and receive updates for the vehicle.

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