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British Billionaire Considers Restarting Land Rover Defender Production

Land Rover stopped making the Defender earlier this year, and the final series of the model sold like crazy.
Land Rover Defender on production line in 2015 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
Among the buyers of the last Land Rover Defender models is a billionaire named Jim Ratcliffe, a man who has earned his fortune in the chemical industry. According to reports, having one of the last Defenders is not enough, as he is considering making a deal with Jaguar Land Rover to keep building the Defender.

According to Autocar, Ratcliffe has already held talks with senior executives at Jaguar Land Rover. At the moment, it is unclear if the British billionaire wants to purchase the intellectual property rights of the Defender, the production line, or both. However, it is reported that he aims to build the Defender in the United Kingdom.

Ratcliffe’s described ambition is almost impossible to achieve at a massive scale, or at the same price the Defender used to have, as laws would not allow any automaker to produce a vehicle without complying with stringent emission requirements, along with current crash regulation.

Furthermore, Land Rover stopped investing in the Defender platform as it was because any money spent in that direction would not have returned in the form of increased and sustained sales. The last series of the Defender was an exception, as it was sought by both collectors and enthusiasts that understood they many never see a car like it in production.

Land Rover is set to launch a new Defender in 2018 or even 2019, but that model will not be like the old-school off-roader which has been kept in production for 68 years without significant changes to its shape and capabilities.

Enthusiasts of the British off-road icon have probably mourned the death of the Defender as we knew it, but passion and care from its owners will keep the model on the road for as many years as laws will allow.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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