Defender Designer Looks Ahead To Land Rover's Future

Following the much-anticipated reveal of the new Land Rover Defender at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Auto Express sat down with the company’s design director, Gerry McGovern, to talk about how he reinvented an icon, and what comes next for Land Rover.

- Jonathan Burn

When the project was given the green light, what was your initial reaction?

“When I was in the company originally [in the nineties], there was talk about doing a new Defender, and when I came back 10 years later, they were still talking about it. I was one of the people that decided to bring it back.

“Was I apprehensive about it? No, because I don’t think that way. More excitement about doing it rather than trepidation would be the right way to describe it, I think.”

Will the Defender be your legacy?

“Great question. Are you saying, ‘Is this my last one?’ It’s not; I’ve got more coming.

“Given how long the last one lasted, how long will we keep this going before we replace it? A few people are saying that; it makes me feel old. Legacy? Yeah, probably.”

How much did the Defender change through the design process?