At present, few electric SUVs can be considered outright off-roaders, but the incoming Jeep Recon will act as one of the most direct rivals to the Land Rover Defender Sport. Elsewhere, the remaining competition will include anything from high-end versions of mainstream SUVs such as the Skoda Enyaq, right up to the latest generation of luxury SUVs like the BMW iX3 or Mercedes GLC Electric.
Pricing for the Defender Sport is expected to start somewhere in the high £40,000 to £50,000 mark, putting the new car below entry-level variants of the full-sized Defender. However, Land Rover hasn’t been shy with pricing in the past, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see high-spec versions rise to quite a bit more than that.
What other cars is Land Rover planning?
Although the current Defender has been a sales success, an extra iteration of the iconic 4×4 could further eat into the sales of the Discovery, which has struggled to match the Defender’s appeal. However, JLR says it has “a distinct place” in its portfolio and is working on plans for the future of the Discovery line.
We’ll have to wait and see how the company approaches reinventing the Discovery, although it claims that EMA is flexible enough to accommodate a three-row, seven-seat family vehicle.
As you will be aware, the Freelander name was recently resurrected by the Chinese firm Chery, as part of a joint venture between it and JLR. Auto Express has confirmed the all-new Freelander 8 is coming to the UK, and it’ll arrive some time in the second half of next year. However, very importantly, it’s not a Land Rover.
P.B Balaji, JLR CEO, recently clarified this relationship to Auto Express, saying: “From a design perspective, we’ll take ownership of it, but thereafter in terms of engineering, manufacturing and of course selling it, it’s Chery’s car, and we wish them well on that.”
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