Jaguar Land Rover ends production of Defender model

The last-ever Land Rover Defender rolled off the production line in Britain on Friday. Indian-owned carmaker Jaguar Land Rover had already announced in late 2013 that the group would stop making the legendary Defender at its car plant in Solihull in the West Midlands in central England.

Via QuickPic

Production of the final Land Rover Defender was cheered by workers at the JLR factory with its lights flashing and horns blaring. JLR decided to axe the legendary 4x4 car due to difficulties in maintaining safety and emissions standards.

More than two million Defenders have been produced over the past 68 years as it became one of the most-loved and long-lived road vehicles. Defenders have featured in a number of films such as James Bond movie Skyfall and Edge Of Tomorrow featuring Tom Cruise. The Queen took delivery of her first Defender shortly after coming to the throne in 1952 and has used Land Rovers ever since.

JLR is a unit of India's Tata Motors, which bought it from Ford for $2.3 billion (2.1 billion euros) in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis.

Source: AFP