While not officially confirmed, a comment from a Jaguar Land Rover employee has hinted a bakkie version of the Defender could happen.

*Render by Xtomi-Design*

During a conversation with UK publication Autocar,Jaguar Land Rover’s executive director of vehicle programs Nick Collins said 'there's customer demand (for a pickup)' and 'there were no structural limitations', before adding, 'we always said the Defender would be a family.'

Given South Africa's love for the bakkie and how well the new Land Rover Defender has been received (including a #CarsAwards category win from us), we reckon our market would be perfect for this. But could it physically happen? See, the thing here is the established bakkie players like the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger are assembled in a body-on-frame ladder chassis, but the new Defender has modern underpinnings, which are radically different to what's needed for a bakkie. However, it's not impossible to engineer a bakkie on this platform. We're likely to see the new Hyundai Santa Cruz on such a setup.

As far as rivals go, the Toyota Land Cruiser 76/79 reigns supreme as the ultimate bakkie and it's likely this will be the model benchmarked for the Land Rover Defender pickup.

The Jaguar Land Rover group may be pushing hard for electrification, but it still has a considerable arsenal of petrol and diesel engines of varying sizesto call upon for markets that are not in emission legislator crosshairs. A plug-in hybrid powertrain would likely be available for certain markets. Let's not forget the fiery 5.0-litre V8 which will likely get one last go in the Defender, before it too is cut down by ever-stringent emissions.

Watch this space. With a comment about expanding the family as blatant as that, we think it's only a matter of time before Land Rover unleashes more Defender models to join the 2-door 90 and the 5-door 110. There's already a commercial version, which clearly demonstrates the potential.

Browse Land Rover Defenders for sale here

Further Reading

Comparison: Land Rover Defender vs Toyota Prado

#CarsAwards – Best Premium SUVs in SA

All-new Land Rover Defender Video Review

Go anywhere Defender now requires a plug

Land Rover revives Defender Hard Top