New York motor show 2012: Land Rover Defender

News

1 min read

3 April 2012

The latest version of the Land Rover DC100 concept has been unveiled ahead of its debut at the New York motor show.

The Land Rover DC100 Expedition is the most rugged interpretation of the concept that previews the next-generation Defender yet.

Gallery: Land Rover DC100 Expedition

Land Rover boss John Edwards has previously said he wants to show off the traditional Defender "abusability" on the new DC100, and the New York show car would appear to be in response to that.

The Expedition sports a new White and orange paint job, and rugged features including a winch, snorkel, a roof rack, bull bar, more pronounced towing eyes, greater amounts of black trim and beefier 275/55 Cooper tyres with five-spoke black alloys.

It follows several different versions of the DC100 concept since the Frankfurt motor show last September. As well as Frankfurt, versions have appeared in Dubai, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Delhi and now New York as Land Rover gathers live feedback into how it should evolve the next-generation Defender, due in 2015.

Mark Tisshaw

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Mark Tisshaw

Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?, Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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K1NZ 5 April 2012

Re: New York: Land Rover Defender

Fidji wrote:

At risk of being called a neanderthal that doesn't like change, I think I'll explain why I just don't like the whole idea of the DC100 being a replacement for the Defender. The target market for the Defender is a completely different one to that of the much more trendy and less functional DC100. I'm not saying that the DC100 is a bad car - far from it - but I don't think it's a viable replacement for the Defender.

The DC100 should be sold as a separate model alongside the Defender. It's sure to sell well to those who like the 'in-thing', but it really shouldn't replace the Defender.

Totally agree there mate. They should keep the current defender but improve its performance, weight, emissions etc.

I really like this concept though, it makes an Fj Cruiser look like S#&T

matsoc 4 April 2012

curious_insider wrote:
Military sales dried up, it can't be sold in certain markets and then at all past a certain date due to ever-advancing homologation requirements. Any new model has to be commercially viable and simply inheriting the tick-over sales sub 20k per year of Defender doesn't wash its face.
This is why JLR are showing all these difference variants off the same platform, to try and embrace as many different markets as possible.
As much as we all love the old warhorse, Defender's time is up and it's time to look to the future, like it or not. Either that, or it simply dies and never gets replaced.

I agree. There is still a bunch of original Defender fans around the world but with these sales numbers the profits they can make keeping it on the market are just not relevant. A new model is needed even if I reckon it's hard to get it right to attract current buyers and find new.

disco.stu 4 April 2012

Fidji wrote:
The target market for the Defender is a completely different one to that of the much more trendy and less functional DC100. I'm not saying that the DC100 is a bad car - far from it - but I don't think it's a viable replacement for the Defender.

Given that Autocar has repeatedly stated that the DC100 concept foreshadows the replacement for the Defender, I would say that it is aimed at the same target market.

Because let's face it, Autocar seem to have a habit of faithfully reporting whatever JLR want them to say.

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New York motor show 2012: Land Rover Defender