Michael Kahn

The new Defender Vertex trades the Defender’s usual black plastic cladding for body-colored panels and 22-inch wheels, a lower and harder look for a truck sold on going anywhere. Photo: Land Rover. Land Rover has updated the Defender for the 2027 model year, and the change the company wants you to notice is the way it looks. A new trim called the Vertex swaps the Defender’s trademark black plastic cladding for body-colored bumpers and sills, adds a larger grille, and rolls on 22-inch wheels.

Top-trim family SUVs from mainstream brands now stretch past $100,000, even as the average new car sells for under $50,000. Infographic: The Weekly Driver. Three headlines landed in the same week this summer, and together they tell a story about where family SUV pricing has gone. A loaded Chevrolet Tahoe can be optioned past $100,000. The 2027 Cadillac Escalade will start above six figures. And the range-topping Hyundai Palisade now costs what a Lexus starts at.

The only official Torcal image so far shows the rear: slim honeycomb taillights, a shield-shaped panel, and a darkened badge. The full car arrives September 23. Photo: Bentley. Bentley has a name for its first electric car. It is the Torcal, the fourth model line in the company’s history, and it will be shown in full in London on September 23. The name is the headline. The more revealing details sit underneath it. Bentley’s first EV is not a flagship.