Land Rover Defender pickup coming via Jeep, Ram parent in the US – report

Stellantis will reportedly produce a new-generation Land Rover Defender pickup for JLR in North America, and there’s a chance it could be sold in Australia.

According to an exclusive report by British newspaper The Times this week, the Dutch auto conglomerate will manufacture the born-again Defender ute in one of its US facilities, allowing JLR to enter North America’s lucrative pickup market.

Land Rover hasn’t produced a Defender pickup since production of the classic off-roader ceased in 2016, with rival Ineos filling the void with its similar-looking Grenadier Quartermaster dual-cab.

It’s not clear whether the reincarnated Defender pickup will be a single-cab or dual-cab model, or if it will be based on a ladder-frame architecture – such as the Jeep Gladiator’s or Wrangler’s – or the existing Defender wagon’s all-aluminium monocoque (unibody) D7x platform.

Nor did the report confirm whether it would be produced in right-hand drive or for markets outside the US like Australia, where the Defender remains the nation’s top-selling large luxury ($80,000-plus) SUV.

However, JLR has long produced models in both left- and right-hand drive for sale worldwide.

If it's produced in right-hand drive for export markets, it would likely be a smash-hit in Australia, where light commercial vehicles are second only to SUVs in terms of popularity, and where the nation's top-selling model for the past decade has been a ute.

“JLR does not comment on future product programs or speculation,” JLR Australia public relations manager James Scrimshaw told CarExpert.

The American-made Defender pickup should be the first product to emerge from an industrial alliance between the UK’s biggest automaker and the parent of brands including Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Maserati and Alfa Romeo.

JLR and Stellantis signed a memorandum of understanding in May, focusing on the Defender brand and “exploring new opportunities targeted at North American clients”.

Under the terms of the non-binding agreement, the two automakers said they would “create synergies across product and technology development, leveraging the companies’ complementary strengths to create value for both organizations”.

Plans are reportedly at an early stage and will be finalised by the end of this year. It’s understood the move to produce the Defender pickup in the US for the US aims to avoid the nation’s controversial 25 per cent tariff on imported trucks, commonly known as the ‘chicken tax’.

The US is JLR’s largest market and the automaker currently imports all of its vehicles sold there. In 2025, US President Donald Trump added a 10 per cent tariff on UK-built cars sold in the US, and 15 per cent on vehicles made in the European Union, where the Slovakia-made Defender is produced.

While many of its German rivals produce their large SUVs in the US for global consumption, JLR’s CFO Richard Molyneux recently said it “doesn’t make sense” for the company to build existing Defender models in the US, where JLR sells 30,000 Defenders annually, and the company can “never localise efficiently at 30,000 units, or even at 50,000 units”.

However, in August he said: “We know we need to get some production on the right side of the tariff barrier”.

JLR CEO PB Balaji said the Indian-owned automaker is currently treating the US as a “priority growth market" and will create “exclusive offerings” for North America, and previously said collaborations with other companies would be vital to “unlocking new opportunities”.

“Our aspiration in the coming years is to grow our US business to the size of the entire JLR business as it exists today,” he said at the company’s investor day in June.

“Working with Stellantis allows us to explore complementary capabilities in product and technology development that support our long‑term growth plans for the US market.”

JLR hinted at a Defender pickup as long ago as 2021, when its then-executive director of vehicle programs Nick Collins told Autocar "there [was] customer demand" for and "no structural limitations" to such a vehicle.

While the US is the world’s biggest – and most likely most profitable – pickup market, luxury pickups are a rare breed. However, there have been some notable examples, including the relatively short-lived, Nissan Navara-based Mercedes-Benz X-Class.

Apart from developing the first ute version of the current (L663-series) Defender released in 2020, JLR is also working on a smaller 'baby' Defender that it claims will go anywhere despite being offered with hybrid and electric powertrains.

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