pangaea said:
I just hope that whoever buys Land Rover recognizes the brand for what it is, and doesn't try to make it a premium luxury brand.
I'm sure whoever buys Land Rover recognizes what the brand is for the rest of the world (Defender mainly), but to the largest car market in the world LR will continue to be perceived and therefore peddled as a premium luxury brand.
To a car manufacturer the majority of American's are label w#ore$. This is why the Japanese auto manufacturers felt compelled to concoct different names for their luxury marques in the 80's. To us they were Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti and to the rest of the world they remained Toyota, Acura, and Nissan. Silly? Perhaps. Brilliant? Even more so. What the Japanese manufacturers recognized is that American's wouldn't be able to stomach the thought of a $45,000 Toyota/Honda/Nissan sedan and addressed the issue accordingly.
Ignoring the badge engineered luxury trend has made companies like VW wish they rethought the Phaeton marketing plan and companies like Mercedes-Benz laugh its way to the bank with the G-Wagen.
We (as in the off-road enthusiasts) are the minority in the much bigger scheme of things. While visions of churning along on an adventure dance in our minds, how to churn along and be profitable dance in an auto execs mind. Unfortunately, it all boils down to money and how to make the most of it as a manufacturer. Whoever buys LR needs to recognize what Jeep did for its enthusiasts and take note of Toyota's marketing strategy for the FJ and realize that the common theme for both are brand heritage. Something I think LR has been able to amass over the years but widely ignore in recent times. Gone are the days of a mostly front and rear solid axle lineup for Jeep, but they still give us the J/K. Gone are the days of the mechanically simple FJ but they still showcase its capabilities off road. LR has preferred to tout its
urban/urbane prowess and "if you need them" off road gadgets.
If the
Subaru plant in Indiana can build Camrys for Toyota there's no reason why (hypothetically) a Nissan plant in
Tennessee couldn't build Defenders, especially with the
CKD kits. If Tata buys LR, Nissan just might be a natural fit since there's already a global
connection between the two companies. The new owners
can sell the Defender models here too, but they must be kept realtively affordable to make it worth while. For many the Defender is the Holy Grail but can it be a
halo car for LR? If you're in the business of selling heritage then I say yes.
P.S. get rid of the LR2. It is not working as the "affordable" LR.
