Land Rover to build its next generation of Defender 4x4s in Slovakia instead of the UK despite the model being a British icon much loved by the Queen
- The decision to build an ‘iconic’ British car abroad seen by many as a bitter blow
- The outgoing Defender model – built at Jaguar Land Rover’s Birmingham factory
- Its successor will be built at the company’s £1 billion factory in Nitra, Slovakia
The new generation of Land Rover’s Defender 4x4 will be built in Slovakia rather than Britain, the car-maker confirmed last night.
The shock decision to build what is considered an ‘iconic’ British car abroad will be seen by many as a bitter blow – but the firm insisted that Brexit ‘had not played a role in the decision’.
The outgoing Defender model – much loved and often driven by the Queen and other members of the royal family – was built at Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull factory near Birmingham until production ceased in 2016.
Britain's largest automotive manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover's factory in Solihull, south east of Birmingham, England
A Land Rover Defender is shown at the Professional Vehicles Fair at Heysel in Brussels, Belgium
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Its successor will be built at the company’s new £1 billion factory in Nitra, Slovakia.
Land Rover said the new off-roader was designed and engineered in Britain – at its engineering centre in Gaydon in Warwickshire – with petrol and diesel engines supplied from its factory in Wolverhampton.
It said switching production to Slovakia would free up capacity at Solihull to build the flagship Range Rover and Land Rover models, including electrified versions of its 4x4.
Jaguar Land Rover said last night the Defender would be ‘designed and engineered in the UK’ ahead of its official unveiling later this year – which is expected to be at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It is expected to go on sale early next year.
The company added: ‘It will use the latest clean Ingenium engines built at Wolverhampton, reinforcing both the company’s British roots and the diversified, globalised nature of its manufacturing strategy.’
2002 Land Rover Defender driving on snowy road, a classic scene of British motoring
Prince Philip driving a Landrover on the A93 near Balmoral Castle, Scotland, UK. Land Rover holds a royal warrant, as supplier to the royal household. The royal relationship with Land Rover goes back to 1948 when King George VI viewed the original Land Rover
History of an iconic British off-roader
Loved by the Queen, driven by Winston Churchill and adored by millions of loyal drivers including soldiers of the British Army and SAS - it was launched on April 30, 1948 at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
The original Land Rover started life as a squiggle in the sand when, shortly after the Second World War, Rover director Maurice Wilks sketched out in the sand on a beach near his holiday cottage in Anglesey the workhorse vehicle he needed to replace the American army surplus Jeep he was then using.
Tom Barton, part of the team which created the Land Rover in the late 1940's, visiting the Solihull Land Rover factory where he worked on it's design
So in 1948 Britain’s answer to the ubiquitous Jeep – the Land Rover - was born and launched at that year’s Amsterdam Motor Show as the world’s first mass-produced civilian 4X4 costing £450. With post-war rationing and steel in short supply, but masses of aluminium around, the vehicle was initially made with the lightweight metal. The original sage-green paint was acquired from a fighter plane factory.
The first pilot pre-production model called ‘Huey’ after its registration number ‘HUE 166’ and is fully working.
Astonishingly, some three-quarters of the 2 million Defenders ever built since then are said to be still in regular use.
Land Rover holds a royal warrant, as supplier to the royal household. The royal relationship with Land Rover goes back to 1948 when King George VI viewed the original Land Rover.
The Queen, who is regularly photographed at the wheel, took delivery of her first one shortly after coming to the throne in 1952 and has used Land Rovers ever since.
The Queen used a specially adapted one for her first world tour in 1953, Winston Churchill was given one as an 80th birthday present at his home in Chartwell, while another was used for Pope John Paul II’s tour of England in 1982.
And shortly after ending his love affair with young Princess Margaret in the 1950s, former battle of Britain pilot Group Captain Peter Townsend set off on a 57,000 mile journey around the world in his short Wheelbase Land Rover Station Wagon which he completed in 1957 and chronicled in his book ‘Earth, My Friend.’
The Defender became a regular movie star movie featuring heavily in the film Born Free (1966) about the story of Elsa the Lion. Defenders are still used today by the Born Free Foundation whose founder Virginia McKenna OBE was in the movie. Hollywood actor Steve McQueen was a fan. It also featuring in the Angelina Jolie film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and in the James Bond movie, Skyfall,
The Defender name itself can be traced back to 1990. It was created to avoid confusion with a new Land Rover launched the previous year called Discovery.
Military versions of the Defender have seen service around the globe and the armed forces have purchased almost 200,000 variants of the UK built Land Rover with the most famous being those used by the SAS in the desert, nicknamed ‘pinkies’ after their painted camouflage colour designed to blend with the dunes.
To cheering and applause from the workforce at Land Rover’s Solihull factory near Birmingham, the final Land Rover Defender 4X4 drove off the production line in January 2016 and joined the firm’s heritage collection.
To mark the final year of the classic Defender Land Rover launched a series of official special editions ranging in price from £27,800 to £61,845.
The new 21st century Defender will be unveiled later this year ahead of first deliveries early next year.
