Here in the US, basically, a decent selling vehicle has to have a 5 star crash rating (because that means a lot to people), have good power and comfort on the interstates. Oh and reliable. We can't stand a car that isn't reliable and flag it as a POS. On the interstate, it better be able to do 75 mph with power on tap.
We don't have anywhere you can spend 4 days without seeing pavement (ok maybe, but you actually gotta work hard at it). People REALLY just want a car to look cool when they are at the pay-campsites. I saw it out west. Here we are, in a whatever little car and this guy pulls up. He takes out a camera and video records himself opening his RTT, unloading all his gear, setting up his stuff, etc. BTW I don't think that SUV ever saw dirt however he had enough crap to support the crossing of the Sahara. Despite the fact that we don't live within 4,000 miles of the Sahara (btw I google mapped the Sahara from Atlanta, GA, its like, 4,300 miles) and this guy won't ever go there. Especially not with this truck.
That is where the Jeep JKU (4 door) comes in. It looks the part and heck, it can PLAY the part if you know what you are doing behind the wheel. But the bottom line is that most people are going to drive their jeep back and forth to work. Or take the kids somewhere. Or whatever. THAT IS IT. Around here, they might go down to Daytona Beach for beach driving, but that is it or feel secure about being in their vehicle when it snows or on the occasional gravel road. BTW my sedan is a champion on most FS roads here in GA (because they are all graded and most of them are gravel).
Jeep also played up on the "its a jeep, go exploring" theme that is so embedded in our culture. I'm sure ya'll have it in Australia but here, the image of a CJ-7 with no top or doors out on a farm dirt road is like, Maximum American. So jeep plays on that and boom, you sell 54906873054349087854098354x jeeps. The 4 door is needed so now its a family car. During the last recession, people got rid of their toys. No longer do people have a 1 ton pickup with a trailer to tow their rock buggy. Now they just build a 4 door jeep and deal with not hitting the hardest trails.
I have nothing against the new jeeps (except that the auto trans trucks just randomly catch fire, I don't like that) but they are bought, built, and then never used.
To address a few points:
5-star safety rating. Really? I honestly never heard that come up in this conversation before and have never looked at the 'safety rating' of any vehicle I've so much as thought about purchasing. The only people I've ever even heard mention it as a shopping criteria were new parents, generally when shopping for a minivan.
Good power/75mph on the interstates w/power on tap. Well yes. And I don't think that's too much to ask. You live in the east where things are close together, but I'm sure you've traveled as well. Not everybody is 2 hours from an off-road park. I live in the west where I might spend 8-12 hours on the interstate to get to my destination. Death Valley, Moab, anywhere in the southwest - that's a long haul from Sacramento and here in America we don't typically have weeks and weeks of vacation time to spend a week just getting there even if we wanted to. So yes, being able to safely and easily drive the speed limit (or above) shouldn't be too much of an ask.
Reliable. Again, yes. Do you think I'm being unreasonable in asking for this? I'm not terribly put off by inconveniencing things like a window that sticks or radio that doesn't work correctly (both things that have happened recently to new German and Japanese vehicles I've owned) and I'm pretty handy with a wrench (not that a wrench does much good in this day of computer controlled vehicles). But the thing needs to start and go every time I turn the key. Again, am I somehow less of a man because I expect a new vehicle to be reliable?
Jeeps are never used. Hmmmm....maybe out there in the east, where you don't have the open land we do in the west. I mean, 'Jeep Beach'? Isn't that just a bunch of Bro's cruising the (sand) strip? I live a couple hours from the start of the Rubicon. Go up there any weekend-or any weekday for that matter-and you'll find plenty of Jeeps being used. Last month Cal4wd put on their umpteenth-annual Sierra Trek based primarily around running Fordyce but with plenty of easier runs over the weekend as well. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of Jeeps I saw being used then either. For that matter, just head up into the Sierras any given weekend and you'll find Jeeps being used.
Ah, but that's the key - the weekend. You see, you are correct that here in the US we don't often do the multi-week 'overlanding' adventure. It's much more common - even on this forum - to see 2 or 3 day wheeling/camping trips. As mentioned, we don't get the weeks of vacation our European and Aussi friends do so it's harder for us to fit those grandious trips in. But that in no way doesn't mean our vehicles aren't used, they're just used in shorter durations.
So where does that leave us re: the next Defender?
We all know 'overlanding' is quite the rage right now, even if few people actually do it. Much as Jeep capitalizes on the image of the Wrangler taking on the Rubicon (which we know most buyers won't do) I think Land Rover could capitalize on the popularity of the overlanding craze in their marketing of the new Defender. Heck, it's the original overlanding vehicle. But knowing that few of us actually use the trucks that way let's sacrifice a little of the bare bones utility for a little more comfort and power. Keep to the basics - outstanding off-road performance, moderate creature comforts, reasonable on-road comfort, good payload, handsome 'timeless' looks that trade on the original. It doesn't need 400 hp, but it should be able to cruise the interstates without being foot to the floor. It doesn't need leather 12-way adjustable heated power seats and multi-zone climate control, but power windows won't break the bank. Give us good size off-road biased tires (I believe the base tire on a Rubicon is a 32" KM/2?). Make it easy for us to customize it to our needs. You get the idea.
It's already been said Jeep has cornered the market on sub-$50K off-roaders. I don't expect the new Rover to compete head to head with the Wrangler, but I do think the bottom end of the new Defender should overlap the upper end of the Jeep. Price it to start somewhere around $40K. Figure $50K for a reasonably equipped model. $65-75K for a loaded to the hilt take no prisoners version. Throw a few TV commercials up showing it on some 'epic overland adventure' and cash in! Not only do I think it would sell in the US, but I think it would help bolster the image and sales of the whole brand.
Of course, this is a North American biased viewpoint as I live here. But that same basic vehicle can be de-contented and sold at a lower price point in other markets as well so I'm not totally ignoring the rest of the world.
