Next Generation Defender must be "more desirable to look at"

[xCSx]

http://www.gtspirit.com/2014/02/11/next-gen-land-rover-defender-to-be-more-desirable/


Good luck on getting anything that even resembles the current defender...

Seems only Mercedes-benz and Jeep will keep a model true to the original (G-Wagon & Wrangler)

Oh well I will still wait to see what it looks like...

 

[Steve UK]

Not a word I use lightly but simply unpossible....

And yes Jeep did an excellent job with the JK.

 

[roverandom]

Awesome, thanks McGoven. That's just we need. I really hope they have 22" DUB wheel option and power door openers.

Land Rover are always quick to point out how poor the sales of the Defender have been and how great the new units are selling, as if it is somehow our fault that they are making soft roaders?

Well, seeing as the Defender is expensive and really no better than than it was 20 years ago there is little incentive to replace an old one. In fact, if they didn't rust so badly they probably would sell even less. Add to that the refusal to sell them in NA or even offer a diesel in this market it's no surprise sales are crappy.

I have no respect for the new LR line up. Until a new Rangie crosses the Darien Gap or crashes through the jungle Camel Trophy style I'm not impressed.


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[forsakenfuture]

The current Defender is one of the sexiest vehicles being made today.

I pick up the Land Rover magazines from the UK and it seems more people wish the Defender was more like a Range Rover.

 

[Rovertrader]

Funny actually about the sales and such- as most of the 2015 production run is spoken for already- Defenders that is...

 

[redneck44]

I wanted to buy a new one about 5 years ago, went through all the sales B/S agreed the vehicle type etc. Ready to sign on the line and the salesman said delivery would be 5 months. Put the pen down and walked out. The guy wouldn't even budge on price or throw in any extras either.

No wonder the sales figure are bad.

Just to be clear this was a basic vehicle, no silly options that required extra time or effort.

As for the U.K. magazines, the hardcore and grassroots LR fans are moving to the internet forums and buying less magazines, the magazines seem to be in the pockets of the advertisers.

One of the reasons the current Defender never changed is because of all the new rules for new car construction that it couldn't comply with.
Changing pretty much anything would mean all the new regs would have to complied with.
The new one will have to be a very different beast.

 

[Eniam17]

Unfortunately 95% of us who are on these forums as Rover enthusiasts are not Land Rover's global target market. They need to sell new vehicles to the top 10% of the global economy. Plain and simple. That probably means they come out with a lot more models that most of us don't like; A defender that will likely be a lot less "simple" than it's predecessor, new discovery and "mini" discovery models with single range transfer boxes, Evoque's, etc. I hope I can make my RR Classic last forever.

 

[LR Max]

They just need to make as many concept vehicles as possible between now and 2017. Seems like everytime they do, we say, "No, but better".

I mean, really all they need to do is take the current defender, make a new tub that is one piece (instead of all bolted together like it is) that is roughly the same general shape as it is right now, and go from there. That'll do a few things. First off, reduce manufacturing costs. Second you can have a shot at actually complying with crash tests. Lastly, the stupid thing won't rattle apart as bad.

With the jeep and just about any car, you can get it as well appointed or stripped down as you wish. So offer trim levels. That way the young guy with a reasonable job can afford the stripped down 2 door soft top (just like the JK) but then the guy with the midlife crisis can buy the decked out 4 door (JK Unlimited Rubicon), put a lift, tires, a bumper, and a light bar on it.

 

[Eniam17]

With the jeep and just about any car, you can get it as well appointed or stripped down as you wish. So offer trim levels. That way the young guy with a reasonable job can afford the stripped down 2 door soft top (just like the JK) but then the guy with the midlife crisis can buy the decked out 4 door (JK Unlimited Rubicon), put a lift, tires, a bumper, and a light bar on it.

This is a good idea in theory, but it's what I was getting at above. Jeep is a mass produced, volume oriented brand selling to all kinds of demographics all over the world. LR is not trying to be all things to all people. They aren't targeting the young guy with a reasonable job who has 25k to spend on a vehicle, regardless of if we like that decision or not. When their "cheapest" crossover (LR2) starts at over 40k, that should be telling us something.

 

[I Leak Oil]

For better or for worse, LR will never be what it was. Get over it.....

 

[UnfrozenCaveman]

These folks crack me up. The company line is " the traditionalists might not like it but they'll have to live with it. "

Well, pardon me, but no. I don't "have to live with it".

Between their assault on small businesses with the letters R-O-V-E-R in their names, the absurdly priced vehicles & fluids & dealer "service"...I think I'll just keep driving what I've got.

I can't imagine what would drive me to buy a new Tata, er, Rover vehicle.

 

[EricTyrrell]

They already have the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, LR4, LR2, and the Evoque. Now they need to feminize the Defender? I guess we've all become a bunch of **************.

Personally, the uglier my truck is to my wife, the better.

 

[optimusprime]

Hi all, my first post, been 'lurking' for a while, and am highly jealous of all the vehicles,trailers and 'adventures' on here.
I thought i'd add my thoughts on this, if no one minds.

First off i am a massive Land Rover fan, having owned a series 3 109, a 110 td, (that i swapped out for an Eight), and a series 1 200tdi Disco.

Land Rover's biggest market these days is Asia, mostly China, where demand is for a 'status' symbol luxury vehicle.
Land Rover will never be able to build the Defender as we know it, the amount of legislation coming out has killed it, plus the crewcab pickups offered by Toyota,Nissan, VW, Mitsubishi etc have a market that Land Rover has missed out on.
Here in the UK even, it's image that sells, 'most' people want comfort and luxury.
I'm over 6ft tall,so having to bend down to look out of the windscreen,and having to open the drivers window for some elbow room is a pain on long journeys.
Having said that, would i buy another one? hell yes!

Then again, Land Rover (like nearly all other manufacturers these days) is run by accountants and legal departments,and not by engineers.

 

[pugslyyy]

Good for them, the Defender is an anachronism in terms of design, safety, and efficiency. Tata is doing very good things with both the Land Rover and Jaguar brands and I have every reason to expect them to do a very capable job of this.

That doesn't mean I'm going to run out and buy one (who knows, maybe I'll love it) - but these are smart people making data-driven decisions and they know what their market is.

And this end-of-an-era means that my NAS 110 will continue to increase in value. I'm okay with that too.

 

[roverandom]

The Land Rover management, McGovern in particular, are just making excuses. They want to be a high volume, ultra modern fashion "brand" Not a manufacture of utility 4wd's.
If they wanted to they could build the best 4X4XFar (sounds familiar?) but they are so far up their own ********'s with leather this and gizmo that they see no market for a more practical vehicle in the model line up. They could care less about folks wanting to modify their own vehicles or use them for something other than impressing the neighbours.

In 2012 Land Rover celebrated the 1,000,000th Discovery of all generations 1989-2012 being built. About two months later Jeep celebrated the building of the millionth JK. That's just the Wrangler's made 2007-2012.

There is a huge market for non luxury, affordable 4wd. Land Rover just don't want to service it.

The reason sales of the current defender has picked up lately is because folks are realizing that this may be their last chance to own a proper Land Rover. The executives at LR talk a lot of ********** about heritage but in reality they are just paying it lip service. They are flushing it away. I can accept the new models as long as they keep at least one vehicle with real off road credentials.

If I'm a traditionalist, then so be it. My next new Land Rover may just say Jeep on the bonnet.


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