The Land Rover Defender has been well-received and the lineup is slated to grow in the future. According to Automotive News Europe, Jaguar Land Rover CFO Adrian Mardell used a call with investors to confirm a larger Defender 130 will be launched within the next 18 months.
News of the model first surfaced in 2019,
when pictures of a presentation leaked online. At the time, the Defender 130
was scheduled to be introduced in August of 2020 but the model was likely
delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Regardless of what caused the delay,
slides shown during the presentation revealed the Defender 130 would be an
eight seater that measures 5100 mm long and has a wheelbase that
spans 3022 mm. While the wheelbase is the same as the Defender
110, the Defender 130 will be 342 mm longer overall.
The extra length should result in a more
spacious third-row, which would make the Defender 130 more appealing to
families. The third-row in the Defender
110 is tiny as there’s only 521 mm of legroom. Engine options
should be shared with the other Defender variants, and this means U.S.
customers can expect a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 296 hp and 400 Nm of torque as well as a turbocharged 3.0-liter
inline-six with 395 hp and 550 Nm of torque. The
model could also be offered with a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 that develops 518
hp and 625 Nm of torque.
