Land Rover is gearing up to launch a long-mooted and highly anticipated smaller entry level Defender as a crucial new model in its electric car portfolio.
The rugged, compact 4x4 is rumoured to have been on the cards for several years but has never officially appeared in JLR’s product roadmap presentations.
But Autocar spy photographers have spotted the model testing for the first time, confirming development is well under way and indicating it could arrive in dealerships as soon as 2027.
These first images reveal it will have a close visual relationship with its full-sized namesake in its chunky, straight-edged proportions, but it will be a smaller, lower-riding proposition and less geared towards off-road performance.
Approached by Autocar for comment on the new images, a JLR spokesperson said: “JLR does not comment on future product programmes or speculation.”
Although the company declined to talk about the new model, the name Defender Sport appears to have been added to the Land Rover website, albeit only viewable from a search engine.
This moniker would make sense because the Sport nameplate has been used to signify JLR’s more road-focused versions, such as the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Sport.
It’s also feasible that the Defender 'Sport’ could replace the ageing Discovery Sport model line, given the apparent shared positions of both vehicles and the questions over the Discovery Sport’s future.
Now sold as a plug-in hybrid only, the Discovery Sport is the oldest model in JLR’s stable, having arrived in 2014 and been given a substantial facelift in 2019. Sales were originally strong following its launch but they have dropped off since the Covid pandemic and a second-generation model has yet to be confirmed.
READ MORE: Why a baby Land Rover Defender should have launched years ago
Autocar has been told that work is currently ongoing to reinvent the full-sized Discovery range and position it away from the more successful – and therefore cannibalising – Defender line-up. However, nothing has been announced about the future of the Discovery Sport.
Given the baby Defender’s apparent chunky proportions and off-road pedigree, it could even be positioned to pick up where the popular Freelander (not to be confused with the new JLR-Chery joint-venture Freelander EVs set to be made in China) left off after the Freelander 2 was replaced in the line-up by the Discovery Sport.
Indeed, with Defender 'Sport’, JLR has a sought after nameplate because the Defender badge has been a global hit (more than 114,000 were sold in 2024) since its luxury repositioning in 2020. Applying the name to its new entry-level model would help it appeal to a wider group of buyers.
To be priced at significantly less than the £57,000 full-size Defender but with a comparable set of attributes and a tangible familial link, the Defender 'Sport’ has the potential to quickly become a volume player for JLR globally.
The timing of the car’s arrival also makes sense because Mercedes-Benz is readying a new entry level compact SUV based on the Defender’s G-Class rival, known internally at Mercedes as the ‘Little G’.
The Defender 'Sport’ will be a sibling to the next-generation Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Velar – the latter is expected to arrive first – and all three will use the company’s new EMA platform.
These models will be built at JLR’s Halewood plant on Merseyside, which is currently undergoing a £500 million upgrade to prepare it to produce EVs. Electric power is the primary focus of the 800V platform, with motors to be built in-house and batteries to come from the forthcoming Somerset plant of JLR parent Tata.
However, JLR announced last year that it was scaling back EV plans and instead ramping up production of plug-in hybrids after “surprising” demand, which means the EMA-based cars could possibly be fitted with electrified combustion drivetrains to boost appeal.
The Defender 'Sport’ will be much more compact in all dimensions than the current combustion-engined L663-generation Defender model. Today’s full-sized Defenders use a variation of the D7 platform, which also underpins the Discovery, but the promised electric variant, due in around 2026, will adopt the MLA platform that sits beneath both the ICE and upcoming EV versions of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.
The baby Defender will be a similar size to its platform siblings. It is likely to measure around 4.6m long and 2.0m wide and stand at less than 1.8m tall, which are similar dimensions to the Dacia Bigster and Skoda Kodiaq.
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This can't be the replacement for the Disco Sport. As we know from the House of Brands, Discovery and Defender are completely separate. :-;
£40,000+
So only appeal to a certain sector.
Of course, did you really think the price would be in the high 30's?
Still too big. Won't differentiate from the current offerings.
Spot on, unless it's electric only and the others aren't.