We Could Get A Baby Land Rover Defender By 2021 And It Could Share Tata Harrier’s Platform

Images used for representative purpose

• Will share some features with the Defender SUV, but only to a certain extent considering its positioning.
• Could be powered by a plug-in-hybrid in a different state of tune as the planned hybrid in the Defender.
• The Omega platform allows hybrid accommodation, which supports the engine theory.
• Could rival the likes of the Volvo XC40 and the BMW X1.

As the world celebrates the revival of the Land Rover Defender, the carmaker is already working on its next project -- developing a compact SUV that will slot below the Discovery Sport. It is expected to make its official debut by 2021. What’s more, the new SUV could be built on the same Omega-Arc platform that Tata uses for the Harrier SUV.

 

The new compact SUV, codenamed the L860, is likely to take design cues from the current Defender to essentially make it a baby Defender. It could also gets interior bits from the Defender, but expect fewer features considering the segment it is targeting. The biggest talking point, however, is its platform, which is likely to be the D10 -- also known as the Omega Arc platform for the Tata Harrier SUV. 

While Land Rover is yet to reveal technical specs of the new SUV, it could be powered by a plug-in-hybrid engine, considering Land Rover is expected to introduce the same in the Defender. This also supports the theory of the L860 being based on the Harrier’s platform as it enables accommodation of a battery pack for a plug-in-hybrid. Expect the L860 to get a detuned version of the plug-in-hybrid engine. 

While all of this looks like a juicy combination for a Land Rover compact SUV, this is speculative at this point with the carmaker being tight lipped. We could get more details as we get closer to its slated 2021 debut. Once this compact SUV comes to fruition, it could be the perfect rival against the likes of the Volvo XC40, BMW X1, Jeep Compass and Volkswagen Tiguan.

Source