Land Rover is one of the few brands in the auto industry that abides by its identity unflinchingly. It’s known for building some of the finest SUVs in the world, and it stays in its own lane. When was the last time you heard Land Rover consider a sedan as part of its lineup? Never? That said, the automaker has shown its willingness to stretch its identity a bit. We saw it when it launched the Range Rover Evoque earlier this decade. Now, we could be seeing it again in the form of a single-cab pickup that will be based on the upcoming Defender.

On the surface, a Land Rover Defender single-cab pickup sounds interesting. But it’s also something that’s been thrown around by Land Rover in the last few years. This isn’t a light-bulb moment, folks. A Defender pick-up was already being discussed as far back as six years ago.

According to Autocar, Land Rover lead designer Jerry McGovern showed what it described as “outline drawings for five-seat and seven-seat new Defenders, as well as a crew-cab pickup.” It’s still unclear how Land Rover plans to present the model, but we do know that it’s going to be based on the next-generation Defender, which is expected to be previewed in concept form sometime this year. If it’s true, it would be an interesting new strategy that would effectively put the next-gen Defender into a lot of different utility markets.

We’d be interested to see how Land Rover packages it, too. Is it going to be a luxury-style pickup, or is the company going to approach it more from a utilitarian perspective? More importantly, what kind of powertrain is it going to get? Autocar reports that the most likely engine option would be 2.0-liter gas and diesel engines from Jaguar Land Rover’s Ingenium range. That could mean power outputs in the vicinity of 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque for the gas unit and 178 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque for the diesel unit. Whatever option would present different forms of opportunities and challenges, though Autocar reported that for the pickup to cater to a lot of markets, it could also be offered in a number of different specifications, ranging from a completely utilitarian version to a luxurious offering that could compete against the Mercedes X-Class.

Speaking of possible markets, it appears that Land Rover wants the pickup to establish a presence in as many markets as it can. It would certainly be an intriguing option in the U.S. and Europe where pickups remain popular even in the face of the crossover and SUV boom. Other markets like South America and Africa could also be appealing destinations, largely because the model could serve as a legitimate competitor to models like the Toyota Hilux.

A lot’s been said, sure, but at the end of the day, this report will only gain traction if we hear anything concrete from the British automaker. It’d be nice, though, to see a Land Rover pickup. It’s not every day the British automaker is put in a position where it has to prove itself.

Autocar0}

Read our full review on the 2017 Land Rover Defender.

Read our full review on the 2018 Mercedes-Benz X-Class.

Read our full review on the 2018 Toyota Hilux.

Read more Land Rover news.