History of the Land Rover Defender, how and where is it manufactured?

The history of the Land Rover Defender reaches a new milestone now that the new model has just arrived in our country. Do we know it inside out?

After a long pause in the history of the Land Rover Defender, production ceased in 2016 and now, in 2020, a new chapter has begun. We are going to explore its best-kept secrets by taking a journey through its entire service life, which is, no more and no less, 68 years.

After those four years of pause on the production lines, the new Land Rover Defender has now arrived in our country in the 110 and 90 versions. Where is it produced? In Slovakia. Russel Leslie has noted that “the eyes of the world are on us. We are very proud to be building the Land Rover Defender”.

“We are on a journey of global expansion. We are committed to the United Kingdom as our design and engineering base. We needed to find space in factories in the UK for future products and therefore it was necessary to move. And in reality this [plant] gives us access to markets we did not have before, and helps with currency fluctuations”.

Land Rover Defender, everything you need to know

The brand’s new plant is almost twice the size of the one the manufacturer has in Solihull. The group has now employed more than 2,800 people. The new Nitra plant has the capacity to produce around 150,000 cars a year.

Leslie has noted that “we always build facilities with a capacity for three shifts [currently there are two shifts]. You must design a facility to enable a certain rate of work per hour. We have what we believe we need for today and tomorrow”.. “There are nuances in that the 110 and 90 models are slightly different“.

The Jaguar Land Rover group has equipped the new Nitra plant with numerous innovative technologies. The most important? A conveyor belt that allows parts to be moved 30% faster. It can reach 3.7 m/second. Christian Classon, the group’s workshop manager, has said that “everything here has to be perfect to within half a millimetre. It takes two minutes to assemble a body”.

The new Land Rover Defender uses 3,600 rivets and more than 170 metres of adhesive. “The beauty of building an aluminium structure is that it is cleaner and quieter than welding shops. But riveting is very sensitive; it is not as forgiving as the welding process”, Classon has noted.

It is important to highlight that the only part of the workshop run by people is the trim line where the doors, wheel arches, bonnet and boot are fitted. The detailing area is the largest, reaching 134,000 square metres.

Ulas Bagci, the director of finishing and final assembly, has stated that “this is where the body finds its soul”.

Why Slovakia?

Since 2007 Slovakia has become the world’s largest car producer per capita. It is important to note that in 2019, up to 202 vehicles were produced for every 1,000 inhabitants.

In addition, the Jaguar Land Rover group is not the only one manufacturing there. KIA, PSA and the Volkswagen group have also built plants in Slovakia.

Technical specifications of this car

Off-RoadLand Rover Defender23 versions · from 78,700 €