New Land Rover Defender reaches testing and development milestone

To celebrate World Land Rover Day, Land Rover has announced plans for the new Land Rover Defender to complete a final phase of field testing with Tusk Trust, on location in Kenya. A Land Rover Defender prototype, wrapped in a unique camouflage, will experience life at the Borana Conservancy as part of Land Rover's 15-year partnership with Tusk Trust.

The prototype will tow heavy loads, wade through rivers and carry supplies across unforgiving terrain in a series of real-world trials at the nearly 35,000-acre reserve.

By the time the new Defender makes its public debut later this year, it will have passed more than 45,000 individual tests in some of the most extreme environments on earth. 

With on-road dynamics honed at the Nurburgring facility in Germany and all-terrain credentials tested on the muddy roads of Eastnor, U.K., the rocky trails of Moab in Utah, and the sand dunes of Dubai, the new 4x4 promises to bring an unparalleled breadth of capability and new levels of comfort and driveability to the Defender family.

Nick Rogers, Executive Director, Product Engineering, Jaguar Land Rover said, "In addition to the extensive simulation and rig testing, we've driven new Defender 1.2 million kilometers across all terrains and in extreme climates to ensure that it is the toughest and most capable Land Rover vehicle ever made. The incredible opportunity to put it to the test in the field, supporting operations at the Borana Conservancy in Kenya, with Tusk, will allow our engineers to verify that we are meeting this target as we enter the final phase of our development programme."

The new Land Rover Defender has been designed and developed in the U.K., at Gaydon, home to the world-class Land Rover design, engineering and testing facilities. The new home of global Defender production will be the recently opened state-of-the-art Land Rover manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia.