Land Rover confirms electric version of Defender SUV, to be built in Slovakia
- The British carmaker, owned by Tata Motors, has decided to manufacture the Defender electric SUV outside UK, its home base.
Iconic British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has announced that it will start manufacturing the electric version of its flagship SUV Defender soon. The carmaker has decided to manufacture the aspirational off-road SUV not at its home base UK, but in Slovakia. Land Rover has not shared too many details about its plans. However, it is expected that Nitra in Slovakia to be the cradle for Defender EV, confirmed by a spokesperson to news agency Bloomberg.
Slovakia will be the first country outside of United Kingdom where Jaguar Land Rover will build its model. The carmaker's Range Rover family of SUVs are all manufactured at its facility in UK. The Tata Motors'-owned luxury carmaker also plans to manufacture the electric range of Range Rover SUVs at its British facility.
Nitra is already home to the ICE versions of the Defender and Discovery SUVs. Jaguar Land Rover had been manufacturing these models in Slovakia since the facility started its operations in 2018. Moving out the production of electric Defender SUV outside UK is seen as a blow to the British government which hoped the country’s largest car company would build more EVs in Britain.
The Defender electric SUV is part of Jaguar Land Rover's plans to launch as many as nine fully electric SUVs by 2030. The focus on electrifying its lineup has become important for the British carmaker as United Kingdom plans to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2035.
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Land Rover Defender was first launched back in 1948 but it was rechristened only in 1990. The SUV, which gained popularity even among celebrities like late Queen Elizabeth II and pop stars like Paul McCartney, was revived in a new avatar only recently. According to the carmaker, the Defender is JLR’s best-selling model for the last two years, generating 10 times the revenue the classic Defender did in 2015.
The Defender SUV is available globally in three versions called Defender 90, Defender 110 and Defender 130. The new Defender 130 is the largest version of the SUV and can seat up to eight people. All three SUVs are also on sale in India with its price going up to ₹1.41 crore (ex-showroom).