Redesigned Defender

[Broadstone]

Cutter you said. "I tend to think the defender market isn't "relevant" to Land Rover anymore despite being the foundation of the company... "



What about the ministry of defence, RNLI, other country's militaries, police and aid agencies around the world. All big contracts for Land Rover that they would essentially be abandoning with the end of defender production. Well i say ending because I refuse to call that thing a defender!!

[greenmeanie]

Land Rover stated years ago that they were moving away from the Defender as the base for the marque and it is now the Range Rover. No news there.

Land Rover are not enthusiasts. They are a company in the business of making profit and the hand built Defender is just not nearly as profitable as an overpriced SUV for the style concious.

As regards the utility side of things even the UK MOD has been moving away from the Rover in a lot of roles so those contracts are even seen as having a limited life.

From the Beeb John Edwards, Land Rover's global brand director, added that the company was "determined that the new Defender will be true to its heritage, while meeting the requirements of a changing global market". Ok, so they'll reuse the name then.

Its you get when a Mini mates with an LR3 while a Freelander drools to itself in the back ground

[rickv100]

Another thing to think about is the fuel standards, crash testing and everything else Land Rover will have to build to in order for the new Defender to sell in the US market.

The original reason they pulled the Defender out of the US market was the requirement to add air bags to the design.

I don't think you could build a strictly utility vehicle any more.

Rick

[I Leak Oil]

I don't think you could build a strictly utility vehicle any more.

Probably not it the strictest sense but Jeep is doing a pretty good job of selling wranglers and rubicons. Jeep has also done a fairly good job of sticking to it's original concept considering all the modern safety standards it has to meet. It can be done if the willingness is there.

[rrc.swb]

It looks like the Honda Pilot concept.

[TedW]

Probably not it the strictest sense but Jeep is doing a pretty good job of selling wranglers and rubicons. Jeep has also done a fairly good job of sticking to it's original concept considering all the modern safety standards it has to meet. It can be done if the willingness is there.

Very good point, IMO.

[lrdukdog]

Defender?

It really does look like a cartoon. Does it come stock with the HUGE exhaust amd GIANT super base speakers? Who is the target buyer, someone with baggy pants belted around their knees? No chance of me buying one. So long Land-Rover as we all know it.
Jim Wolf

[rickv100]

I think that the Wrangler is the only convertable SUV on the market. I wish that Toyota had done that with the FJ.

Land Rover wants to stay on the high end so I can not see a market niche for them.

It would be an opportunity for Jeep to pick up the military contracts if they are so inclined.

Bright side is it makes you enjoy the Series trucks even more.

Rick

[LaneRover]

I could care less what they do with the new stuff IF they start making any of the series vehicles again in India for the 3rd world. Just make them very basic . . . is that too much to ask? Wouldn't a 'new' Series 1 for the 3rd world be nice? Especially if some of the parts (even just body parts) could be used as spares for our old models?

As for Land Rover no longer being based on the Defender model but now it is the Range Rover. I believe that LAnd Rover wants to think that. But I think that Range Rover gets a lot of its Cache from the Defender. I think that the Defender supports more Range Rover, Discovery, etc . . . sales than they think.

Its not just that Land Rover makes 4 wheel drives and that the Range Rover is capable. It is the history of the marque that continues to this day through the Defender that really gives Land Rover its heritage.

[RoverForm]

Has more than a passing resemblance to a Freelander.

Looks like they tried to make a Nissan Cube rugged.

all that plus a little evoque. these old marques should really look into hiring people with car design credentials AND who are also enthusiasts/purists

looks nothing like what a defender is or should be.

when i think of a modern, functional, reliable utility vehicle for use in the US, the first thing i think of is a tacoma. in my international developing world travels, i see both modern and 30 year-old decrepit toyotas filling the void that was left by land rover some decades ago. they are being used from the bottom up by poor working people to the UN and NATO.

if i was going to buy an upgrade from my SIIa, it would be an 80s defender or a new tacoma. but never something as pointless as whatever that thing is.

[superstator]

Maybe it's just me dreaming, but I felt like after the auto industry collapse there was a big trimming of that fat that should leave room for smaller niche makes out there. I think if I were in charge for a day, I'd spin off the Defender as a whole new company, and let it have it's own focus. Go back to when a Land Rover was a Land Rover, and a Range Rover was a Range Rover, and if they get spot welded by the same machine that's just a happy coincidence.

There's a market for the utilitarian / "adventure" vehicle. I think they could compete with the Wranglers and Tacomas of the world, but not at the same time they're competing with a GL500 or Escalade. Trying to shoehorn something in between the two seems destined for failure - the luxury seekers will smell farmer, and the farmers will smell pretension.

[Jim-ME]

If the world economy continues on its present path I don't see how there will be a market for that vehicle. I really hoped that TATA would bring Rover closer back to it's roots. Always a dreamer.
Jim

[RoverDover]

This is such an abomination that if Jeep sold a diesel Wrangler I would sell my Defender and buy a brand new JK.

[Skookumchuck]

I just ate meatloaf again and I finished inner 1/2 hr ago. I hate the look of this SUV. It makes me want to go out and hug my Series and tell im I'll never sell, we can both just fade away in our glory and think about the good old days, $0.25 a gallon gas, being athletic instead of arthritic. And we can appreciate each other and go drive up another mountain looking for fish, fowl and Game.....

[mongoswede]

Unfortunately the auto world took after the shoe world. You know....you go buy a pair of hiking shoes and they are the most comfortable shoes you have ever owned. The particular model lasts for years and when you go to replace them you find that they exist but have been redesigned. These new ones are of course cheap, uncomfortable and fall apart after 1 month. You then lament how you should have purchased 12 pairs of the old ones.


Saabs, Volvo's, Land Rovers....all companies who offered a similar model car for more then a 10 year stretch. Perhaps...just perhaps...car companies dont need to redesign the looks of a line of cars every 12 seconds. Update the drivetrain and modify for safety improvements. Heck....a unitized body construction defender could have been done that still looked like a defender. Of course the Series/defender appeal is its complete utilitarian design and field serviceability....granted about .01% of us truly need that.