Your Next Land Rover Defender Might Be Built With Chrysler’s Help

More than a year in, the tariff situation is still a thorn in the car industry’s side. We’re talking costs of 15 percent added onto cars seemingly overnight, raising the prices of new vehicles which in turn puts pressure on the used market. Tariffs have been an especially large problem for Land Rover, but an unlikely support partner has emerged: Chrysler.

See, Land Rover makes exactly the sorts of vehicles Americans love, posh SUVs that can be had with a serious dose of kick. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that North America is Land Rover’s largest market, which makes the current tariff situation especially challenging. Land Rover doesn’t have a factory in America, and the quickest way around that is to use someone else’s.

Recently, Jaguar Land Rover signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Stellantis. You know, the company that sounds like a pharmaceutical brand but actually builds Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram vehicles. While details were sparse around the initial announcement, we’re starting to learn a whole lot more about what the two companies might be cooking up. On Wednesday, Jaguar Land Rover released a rough path for the next few years, and it contains this tidbit:

JLR today confirmed it will focus on the Defender brand to deliver its growth aspirations in the US market as part of its collaboration with Stellantis, exploring new opportunities targeted at North American clients.

Well, at least we know what badge cars from the proposed tie-up will sport, but “new opportunities” is rather vague. Unsurprisingly, it may involve Chrysler building Land Rovers. As Automotive News reports:

Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said during the company’s investor day May 21 that the JLR collaboration would include “capacity-sharing” at Stellantis U.S. facilities, suggesting that JLR could build a U.S.-focused Defender model in one its underutilized plants in the U.S., allowing the British automaker to avoid import tariffs.

“The new trade condition makes our installed capacity very attractive to many other competitors or potential partners,” Filosa said in relation to JLR, referring to President Donald Trump’s tariffs that have raised import duties on Defenders built in Nitra, Slovakia to 15 percent from 2.5 percent.

Now, here’s the fine-print: If Stellantis builds a Defender, it might not be the Defender you and I know. Not only is Land Rover currently working on a baby Defender, the launch of the Freelander line in China demonstrates what joint ventures can do to grow the variety of offerings. There’s a chance a U.S.-specific Defender model may actually share Stellantis bones, which would be wonderfully bizarre. Regardless, the Stellantis-JLR tie-up seems like a case of strange bedfellows for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, what’s Stellantis going to get from it beyond filling excess production capacity? After all, this is an automotive giant with its own line of off-roaders. Jeep, you may have heard of it. A co-developed midsize SUV might compete with say, more expensive trims of the Grand Cherokee, and potentially budging a bit on market share doesn’t make a ton of sense unless there’s something else to gain.

If I were to hazard a guess, it would be smart for JLR and Stellantis to co-develop a new V8 together. Come on, hear me out. The Hemi V8 is a known quantity but it’s also rather old. At the same time, JLR’s own five-liter V8 is out of production, with hi-po Land Rovers now relying on BMW as a supplier for V8 engines. Having a more in-house engine makes a load of sense from a product distinction standpoint, and with America being the primary market for such brawn, sharing the work of developing a new engine makes plenty of sense.

Secondly, I know it’s cliche, but neither Chrysler nor Land Rover are universally renowned for a long history of build quality or reliability. Both marques have been through rough patches in the past, which raises some questions should a Chrysler-built or Chrysler co-developed Land Rover end up becoming a reality.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that this may all fizzle out. A non-binding MOU is hardly a guarantee, and there’s a small chance this whole tariff thing may be over by 2030 or so. Still, the potential future of a Chrysler-built or even co-developed Land Rover is rather intriguing. I’m keeping an eye on this as it shakes out.

Top graphic images: Land Rover; Chrysler; DepositPhotos.com