Project Icon: Unmasking A New Defender for 2014

Land Rover Defender Hybrid May Be In The Works

Combined Dispatches Edited by JOSEPH V. KUCA

Is there a secret project on the boards at Solihull for a new hybrid Land Rover Defender?  We, at Land Rover Monmouth, Monmouth and Ocean counties only dedicated Land Rover Centre located in Ocean, NJ, and a member of the Schneider-Nelson family of fine dealerships, were wondering the same thing.

Rumors abound in the highly competitive, often secretive, world of new automotive product engineering and development, but we turn to Jonathan Ramsey at AutoBlog for some possible answers.  Alas, though we like to think ourselves corporate insiders, we can neither confirm nor deny any reports.  But here is the back-chatter that's in the air.

According to Ramsey writing for the online automotive news site AutoBlog,  it seems that indeed a newer, rather greener, hybrid Land Rover Defender is on the boards for reveal in 2014.  According to Ramsey, “a replacement for the Land Rover Defender, an SUV for which the word ‘venerable’ could have been invented, has been given the greenest of green lights by parent company Tata. The now 62-year-old go-anywhere-and-then-some vehicle is expected in 2014, and is being worked on now under the codename Project Icon."

Land Rover has started work on its replacement to the iconic Defender.

They have formally been working on the Defender replacement, known internally as Project Icon, since late February after parent company Tata Motors signed-off funds for a full engineering and design program.

Project Icon has been granted a place in Land Rover’s product cycle and is due to be launched in 2014.

Ramsey continued, "it looks like nothing has yet been decided about Project Icon other than its codename and its status in the company’s future line-up, which is at the very top. Coming up with a new retail name for the Defender line and finding a way to differentiate it from the previous model will be part of the work to be done, as well as coming up with a platform and powertrain. The current platform could be too heavy to serve for much longer in the face of stringent new European efficiency regulations."

"The powertrain could be the biggest surprise of all, though: a hybrid is being suggested as a way to reap the typical hybrid benefits. Land Rover showed its Electronic Rear Axle Drive technology in a Freelander hybrid two years ago, in which a 288-volt motor with 34 to 47 horsepower and 147 foot-pounds of torque drove the rear wheels and could drive the front set when needed. If that happens, the words ‘Defender’ and ‘hybrid’ might be the most unexpected coupling of this decade," concluded Ramsey.

If this IS true, our only questions are: will it be outfitted with front airbags to satisfy US Federal Safety Regulations, and will they be imported into the United States?  Surely, we're not alone in our love of this off-road icon and, like so many Landy enthusiasts, we'd love the opportunity to once again be able to acquire a new model Defender here in America.

SOURCES: Jonathan Ramsey, AutoBlog & AUTOCAR