World Land Rover Day happened on April 30 – yes, that’s a thing – and it was marked with a series of photographs giving us a first look at the highly anticipated new Land Rover Defender.

Sadly, parent company Jaguar also announced that the new Land Rover won’t be produced in its traditional home of Solihull. Instead, it will be built at one of Jaguar’s new plants in Nitra, Slovakia.

Along with the pics, which show the Defender in testing camo, the company has also released some info about where it is in the development cycle, reports Car Magazine.

According to JLR, prototypes of the new Defender have surpassed 1.2 million kilometres of testing, and that includes 45,000 individual tests.

As with most cars, those tests are conducted in extremes of cold and heat – and now JLR says the car is going to be put to work in the 14,000 hectare Borana Conservancy in Africa.

The 2020 Land Rover Defender has been codenamed L851 and will be on sale in showrooms next year.

It is now certain that Land Rover will launch a Defender Sport model, as well as myriad bodystyles – and a battery electric version is in the works too, slated for launch in 2024, CAR can reveal.

If you study the pics closely you’ll notice that the new car will most likely get independent rear suspension, and it looks like the side-hinged tailgate will return, too.

The result is a lighter, stiffer and dimensionally more flexible vehicle which will in future cover the full spectrum from mountain bruiser to boulevard cruiser, from Heritage to Autobiography, from workhorse to boulevardier.

Although all derivatives share the fixed points of the same basic architecture, LR will offer a choice of axles, tyres, transmissions and suspension calibrations to meet a wide range of customer requirements.

As far as the engine goes, here’s what you can expect:

Electrification is coming to the Defender family, but most buyers will initially buy internal combustion engines, while battery tech and infrastructure play catch up. Engineering sources have confirmed to CAR quite a few details about the engines and specs of this quintessential reduce-to-the-max British SUV. Buyers will be able to select the number of doors as well as the bodystyle, trim level, character of the car and, of course, the flavour of north-south engine.

Expect the familiar JLR-group 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines to provide the entry level, but you’re also going to see a selection of new inline six-cylinder engines join the Ingenium family as the old V6s are phased out. Expect 3.0-litre petrol and diesel motors available. All engines are artificially aspirated; some even feature an additional electric charger for an extra helping of take off-grunt and acceleration boost.

If you can’t wait for the new Defender, you should consider the classic look Defender 90 2.5TDi which you can snap up for R400 000.

For a more updated model, check out the Defender 110 TD Station Wagon at R1 099 990.

If you’re in the market for a Landy, you can have a good around what’s on offer here.

[source:car]