The defenders are the extremely long tread life tire in michelin's stable.
You are going to have to compromise at least slightly to get treadlife that long.
The true contact is made in at least 6 countries
so you could be getting a tire from mexico, france, brazil, usa, germany, romania
That being said the true contact is an extremely competitive tire in this market segment.
Maybe michelin will tweak the defender.. but that's usually not announced.