One thing is certain - it will not be designed from the ground up. It is almost certain to be based on the D3/D4/Sport platform, although there is a slight chance that it will be a completely new platform, but if this happens it will share it with other vehicles.
Another point that is certain is that it will not use the meccano-like construction that has defined Landrovers for over sixty years. This style of construction is simply too expensive to build today. And unlike Landrovers for the last fifty years, it is very unlikely to have any parts that can be interchanged (like S2 doors will fit a Puma!) with earlier models. I am uncertain whether the body will be aluminium - costs say no, but emphasis on fuel economy says yes!
I expect it will be a worthy successor to the Defender - but will it be a Defender? My view is that it will not, although it almost certainly will bear that name.
It will be interesting to see what market(s) Tata aim it at - it may be aimed like the Wrangler purely at the recreational market, or it may attempt to regain the market that Landrover lost in the seventies and eighties, or even both. I would not be surprised to see it produced in India or China as well as the UK.
John

