Billionaire Brit to bring back Defender

Land Rover's iconic Defender SUV is set to be brought back from the dead after a British billionaire industrialist announced he was preparing to invest £600 million ($A1 billion) of his personal wealth to bring back the much-loved off-roader.

Plans for "Projekt Grenadier” were revealed at the London pub which gave the rugged SUV project its name, and the "son of Land Rover Defender" is the brainchild of Jim Ratcliffe, a wealthy financier, industrialist and founder of chemicals giant, Ineos.

Mr Ratcliffe, said to be worth more than £3.2 billion ($A5.4 billion), announced he hoped to make 25,000 SUVs per year when production starts in 2020. The vehicle will be a direct replacement for the Defender.

Currently the legendary off-roader's design is not trademarked in the UK and Ratcliffe wants his creation to stay faithful to the 68-year-old original.

Despite no sign of a confirmed replacement, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) stopped making its Defender in 2016, but the company says a new version will arrive by the "end of this decade".

Responding to the media coverage of Ratcliffe's plans, JLR announced to several British news outlets that the Defender’s design had been registered in many other countries.

The Tata-owned British car-maker also confirmed it is in the process of making a trademark application for the UK.

Ratcliffe, meanwhile, is confident his SUV will be priced from £35,000 ($A60,000) when production begins in 2020.

Fuelling his enthusiasm there will be a market for an uncompromising SUV like the original Defender, Ratcliffe has been quoted in interviews referencing unconfirmed reports that Land Rover itself is working on a Defender replacement which will sacrifice toughness in pursuit of lifestyle buyers.

According to the self-made billionaire, his chemical company Ineos is already in discussions with the British government to source further state-funding for a UK-based factory, although similar pre-existing plants in Germany are also being considered.

As well as factories, it's been reported that Ineos has out-sourced the design for a possible SUV if rights to use the Defender aren't secured.

A 3.0-litre diesel, 4.0-litre petrol and even a hybrid powertrain are already in consideration to power the future SUV, while Ineos claims it has employed a team of 200 engineers to work exclusively on the SUV.

Once production is confirmed, Ineos says it will employ a further 800 staff.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Ratcliffe dismissed concerns that he and Ineos have no experience of the challenges involved in car-making, telling the British newspaper: "We would not be doing this if we were not serious about it and thought we could make a profit."

Ratcliffe added: “We think we know a fair bit about manufacturing from the chemicals side of the business: putting in £600m is a lot of money and we have got to balance the books.”