Land Rover to End Production of Defender SUV

Tata Motors Ltd.'s Land Rover unit has confirmed media reports that it will stop making its box-like Defender SUV in about 2015, blaming unspecified "legislative" reasons.

The company tells Automotive News Europe it is developing a successor to the iconic vehicle, which was introduced 65 years ago. But it has not indicated when the vehicle would be introduced.

Bernstein Research says the Defender's slow sales make it tough to develop a good business case to replace the model at all. The firm, which predicts no new model is likely until at least 2019, opines that the company is considering an aluminum-intensive vehicle that rides on an existing Land Rover platform.

Land Rover has sold roughly 2 million of the SUVs since 1948 but fewer than 600 last year, according to JATO Dynamics.