car&bike Awards 2026: Land Rover Defender Octa Crowned Luxury SUV Of The Year

The Land Rover Defender Octa has been crowned as the Luxury SUV of the Year at the car&bike Awards 2026. Launched in March 2025, the Defender Octa won the coveted title for its capability, performance and sheer desirability. But the competition was tough nonetheless, because the other two contenders in this category were the Mercedes-Benz G580 and the Porsche Cayenne Electric.

The Defender Octa sits at the apex of the wide-ranging Defender family, as it is the performance-focused derivative of the SUV. The SUV is available only in the five-door ‘110’ body style, and was such an instant hit that the first batch was sold out even before the actual launch. The SUV comes in two versions – the Octa and Octa Edition One. The latter will be available only for the first year of production, and that’s the one we tested.

The Octa is powered by a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a mild-hybrid system, sourced from BMW, which puts out a colossal 626 bhp and 750 Nm of torque (800 Nm in Dynamic Launch mode), making this the most powerful Defender on sale. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 kmph in a claimed four seconds, which is the quickest in the Defender family, and notable for an SUV that weighs 2.5 tonnes.

The Land Rover Defender Octa is priced at Rs. 2.59 crore, while the Octa ‘Edition One’ is priced at Rs. 2.79 crore (ex-showroom).