The Defender is perhaps Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) most popular model to date. Despite being launched several years ago, the all-new Defender continues to be a favorite among customers and is now considered one of JLR's biggest cash cows.

With the US market being one of JLR's biggest markets, but with the recent 15% import tariff on vehicles imposed by President Trump affecting the prices of automobiles coming into the US market, JLR proposed a radical idea.

During the company's investor presentation, newly appointed JLR CEO PB Balaji shared that while North America is already their biggest market, he also sees significant growth potential in the region. But with tariffs affecting JLR's means of pricing its vehicles more competitively, the executive proposed working with Stellantis to make it happen.

Yes, that is not a typo that you just read. Back in May 2026, JLR and Stellantis signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to discuss potential collaboration between the two. Included in that MOU is expanding the Defender brand, particularly in the US and North American markets.

While both automakers have yet to release any specifics about the MOU, one of the strongest possibilities is that JLR might have Stellantis build a US-only (AKA USDM) version of the Defender. To keep costs down, the USDM Defender may use a Stellantis-based platform, which could mean a Jeep platform may be used.

Given that Stellantis already has a massive network of factories in North America and the US, having a Defender-based model built in the US will help JLR bypass the tariffs. Combined with the fact that the all-new Defender is manufactured all the way in Slovakia, the US market could benefit from a locally-built Defender.

For now, no details yet regarding the rumored US-built Defender have been revealed. But we'll be curious to see what terms and conditions JLR and Stellantis will agree on to make this idea become a reality.