Land Rover is gearing up to launch a long-mooted and highly anticipated smaller, entry-level Defender as a crucial new model in its electric car portfolio. 

The rugged, compact 4x4 is rumoured to have been on the cards for several years but has never officially appeared in JLR’s product roadmap presentations. 

But Autocar spy photographers have now spotted the model testing, confirming development is well under way and indicating it could arrive in dealerships as soon as 2027. 

It will have a close visual relationship with its full-sized namesake in its chunky, straight-edged proportions, but it will be a smaller, lower-riding proposition and less geared towards off-road performance. 

Although JLR previously declined to comment on the new model, the name 'Defender Sport' was briefly added to the Land Rover website, albeit only viewable from a search engine.

The Sport suffix has previously been used to signify JLR’s more road-focused versions, such as the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Sport.

It's also possible that the new Defender model could be distinguished not in name but in number, with a designation such as '80' postioning it below the full-sized model, which is sold in 90, 110 and 130 bodystyles.

The baby Defender may replace the ageing Discovery Sport, given the apparent shared positions of both vehicles and the questions over the Discovery Sport’s future.

Now sold as a plug-in hybrid only, the Discovery Sport is the oldest model in JLR’s stable, having arrived in 2014 and been given a substantial facelift in 2019.

Sales were initially strong but they have dropped off since the Covid pandemic and a second-generation model has yet to be confirmed. 

Autocar has been told that work is currently ongoing to reinvent the full-sized Discovery range and position it away from the more successful – and therefore cannibalising – Defender line-up.

Given the baby Defender’s apparent chunky proportions and off-road pedigree, it could even be positioned to pick up where the popular Freelander (not to be confused with the new JLR-Chery Freelander EVs set to be made in China) left off after the Freelander 2 was replaced by the Discovery Sport. 

The Defender has been a global hit (more than 114,000 were sold in 2024) since its luxury repositioning in 2020. JLR applying the name to its new entry-level model would enable it to appeal to a wider group of buyers.  

To be priced at significantly less than the Defender but with a comparable set of attributes and a tangible familial link, the baby Defender has the potential to quickly become a volume player for JLR globally. 

It will be a sibling to the next-generation Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Velar (the latter is expected to arrive first) and all three will use JLR's new EMA platform. 

These models will be built at JLR’s Halewood plant on Merseyside, which is currently undergoing a £500 million upgrade to prepare it to produce EVs.

Electric power is the primary focus of the 800V platform, with motors to be built in-house and batteries to come from the forthcoming Somerset plant of JLR parent Tata. 

However, JLR announced last year that it was scaling back EV plans and instead ramping up production of plug-in hybrids after “surprising” demand, which means the EMA-based cars could possibly be fitted with ICE drivetrains to boost appeal. 

The baby Defender will be much more compact in all dimensions than the Defender. The Defender currently uses a variation of the D7 platform (which also underpins the Discovery), but the promised electric variant, due in around 2026, will use the MLA platform that underpins both the ICE and upcoming EV versions of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. 

The baby Defender will be a similar size to its platform siblings. It's likely to measure around 4.6m long, 2.0m wide and less than 1.8m tall – similar dimensions to the Dacia Bigster and Skoda Kodiaq.