Land Rover wants a luxury ute
Dual-cab ute high on the wish list for local Land Rover division
Land Rover Australia has joined the list of European luxury brands crying out for a dual-cab ute.
While local executives are desperate to enter Australia's booming utility market, especially given the impending launch of the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, Jaguar Land Rover Australia boss Matthew Wiesner told Drive: "there's definitely nothing in the current cycle".
"But when you look at what other premium brands are doing in the one-tonne space, it's high on my personal wish list, absolutely.
"Especially given the premium-end of that space - and what people are paying for those high-spec, dual-cab, sports-utility trucks - it would be fantastic to hopefully one day have a Land Rover in that space, but it definitely won't be in the current cycle."
The utilitarian Defender was killed off last year, with a new model - built off the same aluminium platform as the 2017 Discovery that was launched in Australia this week - heavily tipped to be unveiled in 2018, and JLR's global executives have even spoken of plans for the new model to arrive as part of a "small family", telling the UK press that a break from Defender tradition was definitely on its way.
"You can't run an industrial powerhouse for the traditionalist. We need to establish a viable industrial and financial footprint before we can create a viable Defender for the future," said Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern.
"Once we're making money, we can afford to invest in a whole new Defender family. We don't have to be supported by heritage. Our job should always be about looking forward and being relevant in a changing world."
Whether that includes a Defender-based ute is apparently up in the air. In spite of that, Mr Wiesner says he won't stop asking until he gets one.
"It's almost an annual flag I send up the pole. And when you look at the opportunity globally, its certainly a growing space around the world," he says.
"It would be a cracker, and I reckon we could build one of the best trucks in the market place. It's certainly on the wish list, and I know I'm not alone. So hopefully one day we'll be talking about it in detail."