Land Rover Defender 90 slated for October Aussie arrival

Land Rover Australia has confirmed an iconic ‘Shorty’ version of the new Land Rover Defender will arrive in Australia from October.

Following the longer 110’s touch down in August (originally June), the Land Rover Defender 90 short wheelbase will initially be limited to 100 vehicles in Australia, all in a P400 First Edition guise that comprises a Pangea Green paint scheme with a Fuji White contrasting roof.

The special edition will pack a 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo-petrol engine good for 297kW and 550Nm. That’s 400 horsepower in the old money, hence the P400 naming convention.

Nought to 100km/h is claimed to be a brisk 6.1 seconds, while the 90’s short wheelbase and smaller overhangs purportedly make it “the most capable Land Rover ever made”.

That’s a considerable claim given what older versions of the Defender can do off the beaten track.

What remains unknown is pricing. The new Defender 110 will arrive during August, priced from $69,990 (plus on-road costs) for the entry D200, and creeping up to $137,100 (plus on-road costs) for the P400 X.

Expect the Defender 90 P400 First Edition to sit somewhere in the middle, possibly below $100,000.

The First Edition is likely to bristle with more standard equipment including Terrain Response 2, matrix LED headlights, a panoramic sunroof and a refrigerated front console.

Meantime, the full Defender range will go on sale in Australia from December. All variants will come standard with four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission with two-speed transfer case and Terrain Response; there will be no manual. Australians will miss out on Europe’s 224kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, and local fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are yet to be confirmed.

Standard equipment for Australia’s entry-level Defender 110 will include electronic air suspension, 18-inch wheels, a full-size spare, tyre pressure monitoring, hill start assist, hill descent control and LED headlights.

Safety equipment will be equally generous, including autonomous emergency braking, surround-view monitor, cruise control with speed limiter, driver attention alert, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition and wade sensing.

Among the plethora of other optional extras are alloy wheels up to 22-inch, tow pack ($3702), third-row seats (from $2587) and a front jump seat ($1853), which is unavailable with the third row, centre armrest or wireless phone charger options.

How much does the 2020 Land Rover Defender 110 cost?
D200 – $69,990
D240 – $75,900
D240 S – $83,800
D240 SE – $91,300
D240 First Edition – $102,500
P400 S – $95,700
P400 SE – $103,100
P400 HSE – $112,900
P400 X – $137,100
* Prices exclude on-road costs