Land Rover has launched the all-new Defender in India with prices starting at Rs. 69.99 lakh for the base Defender 90 variant, going all the way up to Rs. 86.27 lakh for the range topping Defender 110 First-Edition variant (all prices ex-showroom, India). The 2020 Land Rover Defender is being sold in India as a completely built unit (CBU) and both body types are being offered in five variants- Base, S, SE, HSE and First Edition.

Land Rover has designed an all-new platform for the Defender called the D7X and it's a monocoque chassis and the British brand had said at the time of its global debut that it’s the stiffest chassis they have ever designed, in fact, it's three times stiffer than a body-on-ladder frame. While Land Rover is offering the Defender with two engine (petrol and diesel) options in the global market, India gets only the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, BS6 petrol engine that put out 292 bhp and 400 Nm of peak torque. A 3.0-litre, six-cylinder plug-in hybrid engine is also expected to join the line-up at a later date.

It is equipped with fully independent air and coil spring suspension, a maximum payload of 900 kg, 900 mm wading depth, towing capacity of 3720 kg and Land Rover's most advanced Configurable Terrain Response 2 system to optimize traction and complement all the mechanicals. In short, the new Defender gets all the essentials and then some to live up to the cult status of its predecessor. It can raise itself by 145 mm when going off road and then automatically levels itself on the tarmac to maintain the driving dynamics. The air suspension reduces the ground clearance by 50 mm while getting in or out of the Defender in a bid to improve the ingress and egress.

It debuts Defender debuts Land Rover's new Pivi Pro infotainment system which along with other trendy connectivity features, also comes with over-the-air (OTA) software updates which is functional anywhere in the world. Two smartphones can be connected simultaneously to the 10-inch touchscreen and the navigation system can cut voice guidance when driving through a familiar route. Other features like 360-degree camera assist, 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and head up display are something that we have never seen in a Defender before and the new model gets 85 ECUs that can process 21,000 network messages which is pretty impressive. Moreover, it also gets flexible seating configuration- five Seater, six seater and 7 Seater (5+2). The Defender 90 is a 5 seater version but customers can also opt for a middle seat in the front row which also doubles up as an armrest. The Defender 110 is a seven seater SUV.