Stellantis could help JLR build a Defender pickup in the US

Key highlights:

• Stellantis could build a new Defender pickup in the US
• Right-hand drive and Australian sales remain unconfirmed
• US production could help JLR avoid truck import tariffs

A new Land Rover Defender pickup could be built in North America under a developing alliance between JLR and Stellantis, according to a report from British newspaper The Times. If JLR eventually builds the ute in right-hand drive, Australia could be among the export markets.

The reported plan remains at an early stage. Stellantis would manufacture the Defender pickup at one of its US facilities, giving JLR a locally built vehicle for America’s lucrative pickup market while helping it avoid tariffs on imported trucks.

A Defender ute could return

Land Rover hasn’t built a Defender pickup since the original off-roader ended production in 2016, and Ineos has since filled some of that space with the similar-looking Grenadier Quartermaster dual-cab.

The new Defender pickup’s basic format remains unclear. JLR has not revealed whether it would use a single-cab or dual-cab style, or a ladder frame or Defender’s D7x aluminium monocoque.

The biggest question for Australian buyers is whether JLR would produce the ute in right-hand drive. JLR Australia public relations manager James Scrimshaw said: “JLR does not comment on future product programs or speculation.”

JLR has a long history of producing vehicles in both left- and right-hand drive for global markets, so a right-hand-drive version remains possible, but the supplied report does not confirm one.

A right-hand-drive Defender pickup could find plenty of interest in Australia. The Defender already ranks as Australia’s best-selling large luxury SUV in the $80,000-plus category. 

Light commercial vehicles also rank second only to SUVs in popularity, while a ute has topped Australia’s overall new-vehicle sales charts for the past decade. That combination gives a Defender ute a potentially strong local audience if JLR decides to export it here.

Stellantis and JLR are already working together

The Defender pickup would reportedly become the first product from the new industrial alliance between JLR and Stellantis, and both have signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2026, centred on the Defender brand and “exploring new opportunities targeted at North American clients”.

The non-binding agreement aims to:

• Create synergies across product and technology development.
• Leverage the companies’ complementary strengths.
• Create value for both organisations.

The companies reportedly plan to finalise the project by the end of this year.

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Why build it in America?

Producing the Defender pickup in the US would reportedly help JLR avoid America’s controversial 25% tariff on imported trucks, commonly called the ‘chicken tax’. The US represents JLR’s largest market, but the company currently imports every vehicle it sells there.

In 2025, US President Donald Trump added a 10% tariff for the UK-built cars sold in the US, and 15% for the vehicles built in the European Union. The Defender is currently built in Slovakia, which means its EU production also faces the latter tariff.

JLR chief financial officer Richard Molyneux recently said building existing Defender models in the US “doesn’t make sense,” as JLR sells around 30,000 Defenders annually in America, and he said the company could “never localise efficiently at 30,000 units, or even at 50,000 units”.

But in August 2026, Molyneux said: “We know we need to get some production on the right side of the tariff barrier”.

A new pickup designed specifically for the North American market could therefore provide a different path to US production.

JLR CEO PB Balaji has described America as a priority growth market and said that working with Stellantis would allow JLR to explore complementary capabilities in product and technology development to support its long-term US growth plans.

Defender ute idea isn’t new

JLR first hinted at a Defender pickup several years ago. In 2021, then-executive director of vehicle programmes Nick Collins said there was customer demand for such a vehicle and “no structural limitations” to developing one.

he US remains the world’s biggest pickup market and is likely its most profitable, but luxury pickups remain relatively uncommon. One notable example was the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, which used the Nissan Navara as its basis but had a relatively short production run.

The pickup isn’t the only new Defender variant JLR has been exploring. The company is also developing a smaller ‘baby’ Defender, which it says will retain the ability to go anywhere despite using hybrid and electric powertrains.

JLR is therefore expanding the Defender family beyond the current L663-series wagon, which launched in 2020.