Sadly, it's not going to happen – for now, at least.
Land Rover has no plans to create a pickup truck version of its popular Defender off-roader, but that doesn't mean the company hasn't toyed with the idea.
According to Australia's Drive, the company's chief engineer Stuart Frith said he would love to see a truck variant of the iconic SUV. “It's something that I would personally like to do because I think the Defender brand would lend itself to a ute very much so. And we've seen that in the history of Defender in particular.”
The British company is better known for its luxury SUVs, but the Coventry-based automaker has a history with the utilitarian body style. The previous-generation Defender was available as a truck, but it's not a common sight in the United States.
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While this unique variant enjoyed great popularity with many, it's unlikely that we will see a Defender truck for the new generation. But why? Pickup trucks are big business in North America, and a unique body style would only garner more interest for the nameplate.
Stellantis sold 77,855 examples of the Gladiator, giving us an idea of how booming this niche market could be. As a premium brand, however, Land Rover would do well to remember how other big names tried and failed to enter the truck market. The Nissan-based Mercedes-Benz X-Class was an absolute sales disaster, and we all know the Lincoln Blackwood was a dismal failure.
Of course, there is a reasonable explanation for why the new Defender will not be available as a pickup truck. Unlike the previous Defender, the new one is a unibody design. Building a unibody truck is not impossible, but it won't have the same off-road kudos as the old car, which Land Rover will avoid at all costs.
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Demand for JLR products like the Defender, Range Rover, and Range Rover Sport remains high, but the Tata-owned company was hit hard during the chip crisis, and production has suffered. A backlog of orders means the company already has its hands full with its existing product portfolio, so introducing new models will only place more pressure on the production lines.
“There is always a balance between [the] capacity to produce and demand. If you overcommit on capacity or you have too much capacity, you have got a fixed overhead that is difficult to manage, and if your demand exceeds supply, then you are disappointing customers. There is a healthy balance there, which is the trick to a healthy business,” added Frith.
Land Rover recently added a third production shift to the Defender's production line, with the chief engineer noting that the company has established “the right balance of supply and demand” with its new 24-hour production cycle.
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Keyword: Land Rover's Chief Engineer Wants To See A Defender Pickup Truck