Land Rover had planned to put the long-running current iteration of the Defender out to pasture when its successor debuts in 2015, but a new twist will see the two trucks co-existing for several years as the venerable off-roader gets a stay of execution until 2017.
Proposed European safety and fuel-economy regulations had seemed to preclude sales of the current model after 2015, but a variety of new developments have changed that situation.
The Defender will likely get an exemption (effective until 2020) from pedestrian impact laws set for 2015 with which the decades-old truck would not comply, while the tough EU6 emissions standard will not be a problem thanks to a new, cleaner-running 2.2-liter diesel mill.
To prevent too much product overlap, Land Rover will likely keep producing only four-door, long-wheelbase variants of the Defender to make room for its smaller successor, which was previewed by the DC100 concept shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
The iconic Defender nameplate began life in 1983, but, mechanically-speaking, the current truck traces its roots all the way back to 1948.
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1.’Current Defender to…’ view
