New Land Rover Defender, centre.
Spectre, the 24th instalment of the James Bond franchise, opens Nov. 6 in Canada and, like most of the others, it promises to be a festival of product placement.
For instance, you can't miss the sexy Jaguar C-X75 concept vehicle being driven by the villain – Bond sticks with Aston Martin – or the Range Rover Sport SVR and tricked out Land Rover Defenders in a snowy mountain chase, already featured in the film's trailer.
But while Jaguar Land Rover has launched the inevitable marketing tie-ins, you won't be able to order a civilian version of the gnarly Defenders the bad guys are driving. Production of the current model is ending this year and no replacement is expected before 2018.
That's bad news for Canadian devotees to Land Rover's bedrock model, which hasn't been for sale here for some time.
Jaguar Land Rover Canada national sales manager Sam Pirillo, who saw the new Defender under development during a recent visit to Britain, says he could certainly sell some.
"I think there's demand," Pirillo said during the unveiling of the new Discovery Sport and Jaguar XE sedan for Vancouver customers.
Pirillo said dealers get regular inquiries for used Defenders. The model is not part of Land Rover's certified preowned program. A quick dip into autotrader.ca revealed older Defenders can command prices upward of $100,000, more than a vintage Porsche 930.
The Defender never was a volume seller, less so today when Land Rover's offerings are pitched at high-end luxury SUV shoppers. But it remains the halo model that underpins the image that any of Land Rover's leather-lined offerings could still traverse the jungle.
Pirillo, who says Canadian Land Rover sales have doubled to more than 7,000 in three years, said he made sure the brass at Coventry knew he'd welcome a new Defender, but has no timeline for when it might arrive.
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