First just to clarify I am not anti Bronco at all but these refundable deposits with no commitment are fairly meaningless converting to a total sales number. 30% of people probably wont have a job in 6 months let alone people that cancel otherwise or don't realize it's going to be the better part of 2 years before delivery happens. So yes its an impressive early barometer but saying they have already sold 140K Broncos just isn't how that works at all.
Second I hate the new Blazer, no, I loathe it. But no one cares that I loathe it or that it is a disappointment. The buying public love the stupid things and don't even blink at prices over 40K for them. They sold 100,000 of these stupid things during a once in a lifetime pandemic where we were shut down for a huge chunk of it. The Blazer already is a success and hating it doesn't change that fact at all. Probably will sell more units in one year and make more money even with crappier margins than the Defender will in a decade, as depressing as that is.
Ok, let's say they have 60% attrition of those early deposits- that's still selling 80,000 Broncos..... the equivalent of 2/3rds of the highest record Jaguar/Land Rover has ever sold across all models for a single year-- and that's just one Ford model.
My point is that there's a lot of people on here who say that even if the Defender is "compromised" as not a true-off-roader, it's because LR needs to make it more palatable to a broader mass of people because they need to sell a lot of them, that LR needs cash and can't afford a Niche low-volume vehicle.
To that I say- look at the Wrangler and now the Bronco- these are anything but low-volume- there is an INCREDIBLE appetite for retro-modern 4x4s (retro in looks- modern in comfort) and LR had what is arguably the pinnacle brand name in this entire market- DEFENDER- and threw it away on a over-complicated fax-simile copy of a Honda Element.
In the world of Uber-Lux sophisticated 4x4s they already have a halo vehicle- it's the Range Rover.
What they needed was to balance that out on the other side with a Halo vehicle- a representation of that other side of the brand that speaks to it's roots- the very things that made it famous- the market is CLEARLY there- and they had perhaps the best name plate in the world to do it with- as good as Wrangler, as good as Land Cruiser, but they blew it. My guess, outside looking in, is because Gerry and his fashionista's were a little too influential in the overall product.
I completely agree with you about the Blazer- I do think it's depressing that it'll sell so much more than the Defender, but I also think that supports my reasoning. Faced with that possibility LR had a choice- try to be more like the Blazer and join the world of vanilla-bland vehicles or stoke the fires of the enthusiast by bringing a live the reincarnation of one of the most identifiable 4x4s on the planet. The "safer" bet is to be more like the Blazer and shoot for the masses. The "riskier" , but more courageous bet would have been to come out with something more like the Bronco. To me, it's pretty clear which direction they went and I think history will prove they were wrong. It isn't even taking that much history- I think the design of the Bronco and the Grenadier alone have shown how the way Gerry went was wrong- sales numbers over time will confirm this.
I appreciate your thoughtful comments- even though I disagree with you.
