New Land Rover Defender 130 - Land Rover's range-topping 'Long' Defender - SPIED

New Land Rover Defender 130 SPIED

The next instalment in the new Land Rover Defender range – the Land Rover Defender 130 – spied ahead of a 2022 debut.

Despite naysayers declaring the new Land Rover Defender a betrayal of the original’s iconic workhorse status, it’s doing very good business and was JLR’s best-selling car in the last quarter.

With both 90 and 110 versions of the Defender out, a V8-powered Defender to take on the G63, and commercial variants popping up, there’s more to come from the Defender as JLR expand the ‘family’ and cash-in what is turning into a Defender sub-brand.

Next up for the Defender is the arrival of the new Defender 130, a longer Defender with up to eight seats and probably only available in higher trim levels, and we get a look at its big back end in the photo above.

Unlike the original Defender, where the 90, 110 and 130 variants were an indication of wheelbase, it looks like the Defender 130 will keep the same wheelbase as the 110, but add an extra-long shed on the back to accommodate an extra row of proper seats.

Land Rover is aiming the new Defender 130 at markets in the US, China and the Middle East where there’s a big demand for large, multi-seat premium SUVs, although it will also be sold in the UK.

Engine options look set to be shared with the Defender 110, including PHEV, and perhaps we’ll see the first BMW V8, already in the new Range Rover, finding its way in to the Defender with the 130. Although that could happen first with a Land Rover Defender SVR.