Last Defenders all but sold

Land Rover's last Defender rolled off the line in the UK last month after a record 68 years and two million units, and the final shipment arrives in Australia this month.

However, despite Jaguar Land Rover Australia's attempt to stockpile some examples by securing up to 300 extra production slots, almost all of them have already been sold.

"If you haven't already ordered one you've probably missed out," said JLR Australia managing director Matthew Wiesner last wek.

"Most of them already have names on them. All 110 models are committed and there might only be a couple of 90s without names on the,"

Wiesner said most of Australia's last batch of Defenders were fully optioned by enthusiasts, and that JLRA "will keep a few because it's so unique and to remind people of what it was".

Some depositors are likely to be speculators, like the man who advertised the first diesel Defender – as Land Rover's first model became known in 1990 – on Ebay in the UK recently for £200,000 ($4.1m).

Defender resale prices are already heading north, as evidenced by a number of low-mileage MY15 and MY16 models advertised on carsales.com.au for more than $70,000 – well over $20,000 more than their new price ($42,990 for the 90, $47,500 for the 110).

Also currently listed on carsales.com.au is a limited-edition MY16 Defender 90 Heritage model – one of just 47 to arrive in Australia -- with 1750km under its belt for $95,000.

Land Rover sales in general are booming in Australia, where the British off-road brand posted a month of growth in January – up 34 per cent month on month with 1173 sales, including 87 Defenders (up from 38 in the same month in 2015).

This follows a year in which Land Rover sales lifted 18 per cent as the company continues to expand its range under the ownership of India's Tata Motors.

Last year Land Rover sold more SUVs than all luxury brands except Mercedes-Benz, and came close to outselling Jeep, sales of which slumped by 45 per cent.

Land Rover's top-sellers in 2015 were the new Discovery Sport, Range Rover Evoque, the aged Discovery, which will be replaced by the all-new Discovery 5 in the first half of next year, and the popular Range Rover Sport.

Land Rover will keep stoking its fire with new model variants including the circa-$400,000 Range Rover SVAutobiography flagship in March and the Discovery Sport Dynamic in May.

However, the only all-new Land Rover model to arrive this year will be the unique Range Rover Evoque, which launches in Europe in March and hits local showrooms by August priced from close to $85,000.

Land Rover has said it will finally produce a new-generation Defender by the end of this decade, and that it will comprise the full gamut of model derivatives currently offered (wagon and ute).

This is despite the fact it's likely to be based on an aluminium-intensive monocoque architecture shared with other Land Rover models, and could be built alongside them at a new plant in Slovakia.