Land Rover lends fleet to Red Cross
Land Rover’s new Defender will be pushed into service much sooner than previously thought, doing some important work for the Red Cross.
On Twitter, Land Rover revealed it would lend its second press fleet of Defender SUVS to the Red Cross, as COVID -19 spreads around the world. The first press fleet was sent to Africa months ago for testing.
This second fleet would normally have been shared among automotive journalists for them to review the new off-roader.
The new Defenders will be pressed into service as emergency vehicles, a role Land Rovers have filled well for the past 70 years.
On top of the company’s efforts abroad, Land Rover Canada is helping in the fight, too, by supplying vehicles and drivers to services delivering personal protective equipment. The automaker is hoping to roll out that program across the country.
Working with the Red Cross is not new for Land Rover; the brand has been involved with the humanitarian network for more than 60 years, and even invited its representatives to prototype drives so it could get their feedback during the Defender’s development.
The brand has been associated with rugged, tough vehicles in the past, but has more recently taken on the unenviable reputation of “Chelsea tractor,” named after an upper-class area of the U.K. where rich people buy the trucks purely for social status.
Hopefully this removes some of that image and helps to return Land Rover to the tough truck it once was.