Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is in talks with Nato member states to sell them its newly revamped Defender military vehicle, as the British carmaker looks to capitalise on Europe's rearmament drive. The Tata Motors-owned firm has created a new Defender defence division to pursue partnerships supplying transport vehicles to defence sectors worldwide, seeking to offset weaker demand and higher costs elsewhere in its business.

JLR is also bidding for a £900m UK Ministry of Defence contract to replace an ageing Land Rover fleet, competing against General Motors and Ineos Automotive. It has unveiled three variants of the Defender Wolf Series II, built and engineered in the UK with engines from Wolverhampton, and says the move is unrelated to its planned 4,000 global job cuts aimed at saving £1.7bn amid tough trading conditions, US tariffs and a damaging cyber-attack. JLR is also reportedly eyeing a US pickup truck joint venture with Stellantis, joining other European manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Renault in pivoting towards defence production.