New Defender Concept

[onewhippedpuppy]

Wow...lets save the pedestrian that stupidly stepped out in front of a car. I guess they dont have a solution for the differential speed of a 2-3 ton object traveling at speed hitting a human being yet. Next thing you know the EU wont let you drive faster than 24kmh so that you dont kill anyone.

Just be patient, the US will get there. Government is slowly trying to save us from ourselves.

Darwin does good work, who are we to stand in his way? No pun intended....

I'll keep beating the Jeep example to death, because it's valid. There's a number of softroad SUVs that combine luxury, car-like ride, and an SUV look. That isn't innovative, it's a saturated market already. The Wrangler has been able to keep its truck elements and most of its rugged nature, but in a comfortable user-friendly package that still works as a daily driver. This is a market of one, and an area where I could see a new Defender succeeding. Because it will obviously be more expensive than the Jeep make it more luxurious with all of the cool new gadgets, but still keep the real truck underpinnings and off-road capability. This would also easily allow them to offer a stripped down utility version for sale to the military, UN, etc.

Frankly I see that they had the opportunity to offer a unique product, particularly for the USA market. Unfortunately they seem to be making the same SUV as everyone else. I guess I'll just have to save my pennies for a D90 instead.

 

[Timo K]

Sales figures over the past 10 years have shown Land Rover steadily losing ground in the "utilitarian" market. Toyota has been dominating the third world with the Land Cruiser and cheaper Hilux. Companies like (surprise) Tata also have a hold on the market with cheap, utilitarian, diesel 4x4s. Even the British military has pursued other options for a light 4x4 (Pinzgauer).

Like it or not, this has been coming for a long time. Land Rover just isn't the "utilitarian" brand that so many romanticize it to be anymore. Hasn't been that way for a decade now.

And who's fault that is, that is the question I think. In my mind it's more about Land Rovers reluctance to rectify the shortcomings of their designs, than it is about Toyotas total supremacy. Land Rover hasn't even bothered to address the warranty issues, despite having a few decades time to do that. Not to mention refining it as a utilitarian design. Which it clearly is, since a Defender can never compete with a Lexus in refinement and shouldn't IMHO even try. That does not mean it should be inherently uncomfortable or anything like that. It's all their own fault and no one elses.

That new Land Rover might be just that, a new Land Rover, but it sure ain't a new Defender.

 

[aw990200]

First, remember that this is a styling exercise, not a production design. Lots of automakers produce styling exercises that don't look too much like the production model.

Second, the mechanicals are more likely to be what goes into production in a couple of years. So Scott's right, the details about the chassis will show the direction Land Rover is taking.

Third, Land Rover sold about 20,000 Defenders last year. They need to find ways to sell more, even if it means updating a 60 year old design.

If they wanted to sell more Defenders, they could've always added some front and side airbags, a cage, and sold it for $70,000 a pop in the U.S.

 

[roverrocks]

Better the Defender dies than to see it emerge as this soulless piece of horse pucky that is being "unveiled". I'm too old and too poor to ever buy a new vehicle but if I was in the market then the choice would be a Jeep Wrangler. The Wrangler still has a soul but this Defender "concept" is nothing but trash. A total sellout.

 

[aw990200]

To say that the Defender has to look like a one-legged street tramp is a bunch of bull. If the LR4 and Range Rover can keep the iconic square front end and shape so can the DC100 concept. This design isn't solely driven by new laws and regulations. These vehicles also prove that there is a demand in the market for that classic Land Rover shape since their sales have improved in the past few years. This design team lacks members that truly loved the "old" Defender. Instead, they're hoping to cash in on the past designs offered by other companies (i.e. the FJ Cruiser, Element, and their own LR2). This design is anything but unique. People don't hate this new concept; they hate how it looks like everything else on the market. All they need to do is work in two of three iconic defender features: flat windscreen, round headlights and a square grill into a modern concept and, in my opinion, they'll have something close to a viable production concept. What happened to this?

 

[Rocket Ship]

I just read this (didnt see it before my post):

http://www.roversnorth.com/news/ind...mains-worlds-most-capable-all-purpose-vehicle

Oh boy, it comes with a rotary gear shifter and steering wheel paddle shifters. Actually I think the paddle shifters may not be that bad off road, but boy LRs are becoming more car like everyday.

What exactly is wrong with the rotary shifter? You know that stick shifters these days are just a facade? It's a complex, expensive contraption designed to make the driver think they have some connection to the transmission when in fact they don't.

Makes a lot of sense to just do away with the darn thing and move on.

Wow...lets save the pedestrian that stupidly stepped out in front of a car. I guess they dont have a solution for the differential speed of a 2-3 ton object traveling at speed hitting a human being yet. Next thing you know the EU wont let you drive faster than 24kmh so that you dont kill anyone.

That's an incredibly myopic and selfish statement. So you don't think it ever happens that pedestrians legally crossing the street are run over by careless latte sipping Land Rover drivers?

combining tradition with state-of-the-art technology.

State-of-the-art technology?

Where?

The Wrangler has been able to keep its truck elements and most of its rugged nature, but in a comfortable user-friendly package that still works as a daily driver. This is a market of one, and an area where I could see a new Defender succeeding. Because it will obviously be more expensive than the Jeep make it more luxurious with all of the cool new gadgets, but still keep the real truck underpinnings and off-road capability. This would also easily allow them to offer a stripped down utility version for sale to the military, UN, etc.

Why do you assume that these attributes are not also present in the new Defender? You have tested the capabilities of the truck based on a concept model?

If the LR4 and Range Rover can keep the iconic square front end and shape so can the DC100 concept. This design isn't solely driven by new laws and regulations.

Have you seen the 2015 model LR4 and RR?

What happened to this?

Nothing happened to that. It never was. That's somebody's photoshop of a Range Rover grill on the Ford Bronco concept.

 

[nwoods]

Nothing happened to that. It never was. That's somebody's photoshop of a Range Rover grill on the Ford Bronco concept.

Exhibit A
http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/concept_cars/ford_bronco.html

 

[SCRover]

looks like Defenders will be the new gold. glad i "invested" early. :sombrero:

 

[Rocket Ship]

That being said, the Bronco concept also does work very well as a Defender concept. No doubt. But it could never pass 2015 pedestrian crash regs.

Now, if I was in charge of the program, I would treat the front of the actual Defender concept a little different. Integrate large round headlights, and turn-signal lights into flat black plastic escutcheon's which do invoke the heritage of the Defender. Make the grill more bold and boxy. And then lay all that onto a swept back pedestian friendly profile like they have done.

I would also make very clean, vertical or horizontal body-seperation lines between the bumper and front fenders, and engineer the whole front end so that it is easy to unbolt the front fascia and bolt on a steel ARB-like front bumper. Have the grill and headlight escutcheon attached to the upper rad support instead of the fascia. So you can remove the fascia/bumper, and bolt on whatever you like from the aftermarket. And publish the CAD data for the front end so the aftermarket has something to work with.

That's how you handle this situation where you've got a small but important segment of your market that cannot live with the regulatory requirements you are forced to work with.

 

[uzj100]

I think they need to go towards the Jeep Wrangler with this and give Jeep some competition in the states. This looks like another KIA. So sad, hopefully somebody wakes up before this design gets anywhere near production. Maybe they could offer this (soft roader) and a real Defender replacement.
This begs the question, are the sales numbers so low on the Jeep Wrangler, that Toyota and Land Rover just ignore them in the states? Or are Toyota and Land Rover done with that market forever and have moved on? $30k or less, solid axles, removable tops and doors? Back in the early 70s, there were 6 real choices at the dealerships: FJ40s, Bronco's, Scouts, Land Rover Series vehicles, the original Blazer (before k5) and Jeep CJs. (I probably missed 1 or 2)

We need 6 NEW choices now and we have 1.

This is pushing me closer and closer to a Rubicon. ;<)

 

[Rocket Ship]

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Here is more info and pictures: Egads. Even dressed up as a G4 it loses itself on me:

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/31/land-rover-dc100-gets-rendered-out/

Even more than the ones below:
http://www.kilometermagazine.com/cg...d Rover/Concepts/DC100 Defender 2011;i=0;pg=1

 

[NOMADIC_LJ]

^^^^ Looks like a Ford Flex

 

[uzj100]

Agreed. Terrible. Terrible and Terrible. Should be a huge success with the people who stay on the pavement.

 

[jjstahl3]

my 2 cents