New Land Rover Defender is open for bookings, will debut in August at a starting price of Rs 69.99 lakh

Jaguar Land Rover India has started accepting bookings for the new generation Land Rover Defender SUV. Customers will receive deliveries from August 2020 onwards, with prices starting from Rs 69.99 lakh, ex-showroom. The iconic off-roader was given a ground-up refresh when it debuted globally at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The Indian-spec Defender will come with a single-engine option. This will be the 2.0-litre engine turbo-petrol in its P300 guise, with outpots of 300PS and 400 Nm. This will come paired with JLR’s version of the ZF eight-speed automatic. [caption id=“attachment_8093111” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Land Rover Defender SUV.[/caption] Both the three-door SWB 90 and the five-door LWB 110 version will be offered here, each with five trim levels. These will be the Base, S, SE, HSE and First Edition. The Defender is being brought in as a CBU and will get notable features like the 360-degree Surround Camera, Wade Sensing, Electronic Air Suspension (Standard on 110), Smartphone Pack, Connected Navigation Pro, Off-Road tyres, Centre Console with refrigerated compartment (optional), among other things. Like the international version, the Indian-spec car will be highly customisable with a range of seating combinations and accessory packs to choose from. The new Defender sits on the all-new D7X platform, not shared with any other Land Rover. This is aluminium monocoque structure three times stiffer than body-on-frame cars. The live-axle suspension has also been replaced by independent ones with air suspension available on higher trims. Adding off-roading capability to this is the permanent all-wheel drive, a twin-speed automatic gearbox, centre differential and an optional active locking rear differential. Notable new off-roading tech is the debut of the fully configurable Terrain Response system. Land rover’s ground-view camera is also available, which show the area usually hidden by the bonnet. This new architecture gives the Defender a ground clearance of 291mm and approach, departure and break-over angles of 38, 28 and 40 degrees respectively for the 110 version. There’s also 900mm of wading depth on offer through the new wade program in the Terrain Response 2 system. The Land Rover Defender will compete with the Jeep Wrangler in India.