Land Rover’s iconic Defender could be getting bigger as the brand plans to add a 7/8-seater version of the Defender to the portfolio. Currently, two body types of the Defender are on sale – 90 and 110, and the new iteration could be dubbed ‘130’. According to sources, the Defender 130 is likely to be the larger iteration of the Defender 110 and the wheelbase remains the same but the overall length will be increased by 342mm. The Defender 110 measures 4,758 mm / 5,018 mm (with spare wheel) in length, 2,008 mm in width, 1,967 mm in height and 3,022 mm of the wheelbase. Apart from the third-row and added length, the features of the SUV are likely to be similar to the 110 models. Sources believe that Defender 130 will be sold in North America, the Middle East and the Chinese markets.
Powertrain
Powering the Defender 90 and 110 is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder TwinTurbo petrol engine that produces 300 PS of power and 400 Nm of torque, 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine combined with a 105 kW electric motor coupled to a 19.2 kWh battery that comes in a tune of 404 PS of power and 640 Nm of combined torque and a new 5.0-litre supercharged V8 petrol engine that churns out 525 PS of power and 625 Nm of torque. All the engines come with an automatic transmission as standard. However, which power unit will the Defender 130 use is still unknown, but speculations are that the Defender 130 is likely to employ a newly introduced 3.0-litre six-cylinder PHEV (Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle) engine that makes 200 PS of power and 500 Nm of torque and the supercharged V8 engine mentioned above.
Defender in India
Land Rover launched the Defender 90 & 110 in the Indian market at prices starting INR 73.98 ex-showroom, India. The Defender is sold in five trims – Defender, Defender S, Defender SE, Defender HSE and Defender First Edition. Also, the brand opened booking on the new Defender Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) which is available in the P400e trim with four variants – SE, HSE, X-Dynamic HSE and X on the Defender 110. The recently introduced Defender V8 could also arrive in the Indian market in limited numbers. The Land Rover Defender V8 comes in a new flagship Defender Carpathian Edition and a new Defender XS Edition that replaces the Defender First Edition.
