With an all-new Defender due out towards the end of the decade, Land Rover has applied for a renewal of its trademark to the Defender name in Europe and Philippines.
While the trademark application to this effect in Europe was reported back in May, the same in Philippines was submitted on Aug 4. Both are still under consideration though the carmaker is hopeful of its case as it continues developing the successor to the iconic Defender.
"The Defender remains a key part of our future product strategy, and the development of the next generation model remains on track as does our ongoing Land Rover Reborn programme, through Land Rover Classic," a JLR spokesperson told Autocar.
However, details of the new Defender are scarce at the moment with almost nothing known about the upcoming vehicle to any degree of certainty. That said, Autocar believes there could be several models that would be introduced incorporating different body styles. One of that might be tuned towards extreme off-roading.
Further, it is the company's Special Vehicle Operations division that might get to develop the car that is likely to be christened the SVX version. Also, the car might be positioned for use by enthusiasts or select groups such as industries or agencies operating in far-flung remote areas.
The company meanwhile has refuted rumors claiming the old Defender might still make a comeback riding on the efforts of billionaire businessman Jim Ratcliffe. There were reports earlier of Ratcliffe, owner of the company Ineos that produces chemicals of having held talks with JLR representatives discussing the prospects of re-launching the old Defender.
The Coventry-based car maker had chosen to retire the Defender earlier in the year citing environmental and safety norms that the old vehicle was no longer able to comply with. Diminishing demand is also reported to have played its part with the company finding it economically unviable to continue maintaining the production lines with such low volumes.
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