Interesting discussion.
My €.02 as an ExPat in Europe: What the customer base want is a posh 4x4 with cache.
The amount of purchasers who buy any LR/RR new with the intent of going off road is low, lower still for serious off roading. JLR has done plenty of research and focus groups. The member of forums who want serious capability are such a low percentage of the market, basically non-entities.
Hell, we can't even decide,lol. From 35" floatation tire to Moab/Rubicon to drive across country to Deadhorse. That is most likely 3 distinctly different vehicle set-ups, and we expect JLR to make those vehicles?
They cannot really even fit it into one new vehicle. The LR trucks we all know/love/mod are from the era when JLR was doing poorly. They have figured out what the profitable market is, and have moved in that direction. We can lament the fact they missed out on the Jeep niche, and that they let the Defender stagnate and flatline. But it happened. Now, they are a very profitable, well known luxury SUV maker. I do not see that changing. Other manufacturers captured the global market for true utility trucks, and it will likely stay that way.
The fact that LR guys that went to LA did not know about frdges and drawers does not surprise me. Stop in at any dealer in the US or Europe with a RTT on a LR4 or Defender. I have done it both in US and across Europe. No one knew what it was.