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Originally Posted by SCSL
Remember, though, that it's important to look at the meaning of the word "Defender". There may be a new 'Defender' coming in '08, there may not be. But either way, it will not be anything like what we call a Defender. You're looking at LR3 platform, independent suspension, etc. A Defender in name only...
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As I mentioned in my post further up this thread, a couple of weeks ago I went to a lecture by the guy who headed up the 2007 Defender upgrade program.
He said that the whole programme has had to be done in 18 months, because up until then (and since 2002) Land Rover had been assuming that any new Defender would use the T5 platform (Disco 3/ RRS). However, it was realised that this plan just wouldn't work because you can't build lots of different variants off a single chassis/platform, like you can with the current Defender. Hence the rather last-minute round of upgrades to the Defender for 2007 to take it up to 'at least' 2010.
So, the line from Land Rover is that the T5 platform isn't suitable for the Defender, so whatever the 'new' Defender turns out to be, it won't be based on the Discovery or RRS. Personally, I doubt Land Rover will bother to develope a brand new platform with independent suspension for a vehicle that manages 25,000 sales a year.
Jack
