LR jumped the arrogance shark

[A Twig]

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/land-rover-design-director-vows-put-third-party-tuners-out-business

"It’s easy to take a product that’s already been created and put a little spoiler on it or whatever, but I’d like to see them design their own car. We see them taking our property and making a bit more profit."

The "we know best" attitude from McGovern is getting ridiculous...

Edited March 21, 2017 by A Twig

[neil110]

I don't think it is so much a case of we know best as being annoyed that he has spent a lot of time and effort designing a vehicle and then others come along and make changes to it. Some of the aftermarket changes made to vehicles are dreadful, I don't care how much they cost, they are absolutely dreadful.

 

[honitonhobbit]

I was standing in the office kitchen window yesterday, watching the weather and looking at a brand new Disco Sport HSE parked outside. I found myself thing what an attractive rear end it had. Slightly off topic I know - for which I heartily apologise

[Snagger]

"Taking our property..."  And there was me thinking the cars were the customers' property.  It does show his arrogance, Twig.

[Bowie69]

New cars are the property of the finance company, not the consumer

That aside, I think he is talking intellectual property, not anything physical. Must be an American.

[A Twig]

3 hours ago, neil110 said:

I don't think it is so much a case of we know best as being annoyed that he has spent a lot of time and effort designing a vehicle and then others come along and make changes to it. Some of the aftermarket changes made to vehicles are dreadful, I don't care how much they cost, they are absolutely dreadful.

 

Appearance is very subjective, if you've spent £kk on a Range Rover, and you want to change the styling to better suit your taste then that's up to you.

McGovern wanting people to only do approved LR SVO specials is basically saying LR are the arbiter of taste and what is acceptable...

Once you start that attitude, where does it stop? I mean, how dare I fit a Patriot roof rack to my Defender, I should have fitted the LR SVO one...

Steel modulars, the horror... And as for my respray which wasn't from the approved LR colour palette...

Someone needs to remind McGovern his job is to design cars that are attractive enough and have the features and options people want in order to buy them. What they do with them after that is none of his business...

 

 

[Snagger]

1 hour ago, Bowie69 said:

New cars are the property of the finance company, not the consumer

That aside, I think he is talking intellectual property, not anything physical. Must be an American.

If you buy on finance.  Some people don't, especially second hand, and his whinge includes all the cars he designed, old and new.

 

His point was to endorse SVO and his view that they would do a better job of customisation than the third party companies, but he did it in a very petulant and arrogant way, showing his true contempt for anyone who has different taste from him.

[geoffbeaumont]

43 minutes ago, A Twig said:

McGovern wanting people to only do approved LR SVO specials is basically saying LR are the arbiter of taste and what is acceptable...

In other words, you're running a luxury brand. Arbiting what is "tasteful" to your target market is exactly what brand building is.

I suppose one angle on this is a fear that lots of heavily modified LR vehicles with bolt on aftermarket tat will give them a dodgy image which will rub off on the standard vehicles and damage brand reputation.

[Bowie69]

19 minutes ago, Snagger said:

His point was to endorse SVO and his view that they would do a better job of customisation than the third party companies, but he did it in a very petulant and arrogant way, showing his true contempt for anyone who has different taste from him.

Yeah I agree  

I do think he is still referring to IP rather than anything of fabric.

[honitonhobbit]

Maybe he is referring to Khan and ICONene (obs not proper ICON in 'Merica and not Joe and Joetta public

[Snagger]

That's my initial thought, Dave, but he didn't design the Defender and was probably instrumental in it being killed off - he was very critical of its unstyled appearance, if I remember correctly, so why he'd care about Khan is anyone's guess.  SVO were more about commercial than cosmetic work on Defender, too.

[FridgeFreezer]

Have you people not seen the atrocities committed against Land Rovers (especially Defenders) by some of these outfits, and for vast piles of cash to boot?

Could be worse, could be a John Deere tractor:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/why-american-farmers-are-hacking-their-tractors-with-ukrainian-firmware

[neil110]

Last time I was in UK I spotted a vehicle that might once have been a defender. Sitting on I think it was 22 inch rims with a thin layer of rubber wrapped around them, oh and they were about 2 feet wide ( I exaggerate but you get the idea) The only question that came to mind was, Why?  Even with lowered and stiffened suspension the thing is still a cattle truck, just now it is a cattle truck that is probably even more uncomfortable to drive. 

It is a bit like that old proverb, "If I was trying to get to there I wouldn't be starting from here"

[Mo Murphy]

So a man who once sported a hideous mullet is trying to tell us what style is ?

???????????????

Mo

[Cynic-al]

9 hours ago, honitonhobbit said:

I was standing in the office kitchen window yesterday, watching the weather and looking at a brand new Disco Sport HSE parked outside. I found myself thing what an attractive rear end it had. Slightly off topic I know - for which I heartily apologise

Hmmm. I must need a firmware upgrade as I was in the land rover dealer on Monday having my isuzu serviced and couldn't help but think how awful the d5 looked front and back compared to the d4 outside that was in for its 3rd set of wheel bearings... but I must be wrong as that chaps styled it and he says it's right :/

[Daan]

Must say If i could afford to have my brand new range rover pimped, I would prefer to have it done by landrover rather than some backstreet tuner. It makes sense from a warranty and selling point of view. But don't worry, I will never need to get my new range rover pimped!

 

Daan

[neil110]

mm tasty.

[Davo]

I always refer to any of the latest Land Rover designs as "angry bathtubs", so this boy may want to improve his ugly products first. 

[mad_pete]

If I spent 3 years bringing a product to market I'd probably be a bit pocessive of it.

I think it is aimed at Kahn and the like and he is a bit cross at himself and a bit jealous. Building a car is a huge undertaking and then someone puts some paint and big wheels on with 6 times the profit margin. You have to be thinking I should be offering that.  

[honitonhobbit]

On ‎22‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 7:55 PM, Cynic-al said:

Hmmm. I must need a firmware upgrade as I was in the land rover dealer on Monday having my isuzu serviced and couldn't help but think how awful the d5 looked front and back compared to the d4 outside that was in for its 3rd set of wheel bearings... but I must be wrong as that chaps styled it and he says it's right :/

I lean towards the front of the Disco sport is being bland, whereas the D5 is all bland. I never liked the D3 or D4 shape when they came out - now I'm thinking how much I like the look. As I get older, will I lust after a D5?

[BogMonster]

On 22/03/2017 at 9:36 AM, Snagger said:

If you buy on finance.  Some people don't, especially second hand, and his whinge includes all the cars he designed, old and new.

 

His point was to endorse SVO and his view that they would do a better job of customisation than the third party companies, but he did it in a very petulant and arrogant way, showing his true contempt for anyone who has different taste from him.

SVO often used to just farm stuff out to other 3rd parties, and then stick an SVO badge on it and a hefty markup. They may do more in house nowadays, I worked with LR a few years ago now.

[missingsid]

Can't say I've ever seen a good modified LR, Icon or what, LR's own SVR may sound amazing but is so chav!" LR is just rich chav go to Essex and see!!

[Snagger]

The only modified LR products I have liked are Camel Trophy 110s and some of the military stuff.  I appreciate the fire engines, though they're not my thing.  But all the special editions and performance enhancements, bling and special paint turns me right off.  I even disliked the chrome and pin stripe on some RRCs.  Still, it's for the owner to decide what they want done with their car, not some self-righteous, pompous buffoon who is all style and no substance.  For what it's worth, I think McGovern lacks style and taste - I think the only decent looking cars to come out of their stable since 2004 are the L322 and original RRS, but only if in standard guise.  I think the modern stuff looks cheap and nasty. 

[Cynic-al]

8 hours ago, honitonhobbit said:

I lean towards the front of the Disco sport is being bland, whereas the D5 is all bland. I never liked the D3 or D4 shape when they came out - now I'm thinking how much I like the look. As I get older, will I lust after a D5?

I'm the same, I thought the old shape l200 was awful, then they brought out the new shape with the huge chrome grill and I thought how nice the old one looked in comparison. 

 

Which proves everything new is rubbish and I'm going to live under a rock in the past. Bah humbug!

 

Supposedly I have a discovery sport on the 7th when the isuzu goes in for a bumper repair, I might be converted and dragged into the ipod twitter snap chat generation. Hip hop snap dab kiddies.

Edited March 24, 2017 by Cynic-al

[Davo]

15 hours ago, Snagger said:

The only modified LR products I have liked are Camel Trophy 110s and some of the military stuff.  I appreciate the fire engines, though they're not my thing.  But all the special editions and performance enhancements, bling and special paint turns me right off.  I even disliked the chrome and pin stripe on some RRCs.  Still, it's for the owner to decide what they want done with their car, not some self-righteous, pompous buffoon who is all style and no substance.  For what it's worth, I think McGovern lacks style and taste - I think the only decent looking cars to come out of their stable since 2004 are the L322 and original RRS, but only if in standard guise.  I think the modern stuff looks cheap and nasty. 

Ah, style and taste, or for that matter refinement . . . where have they gone? I've realised that should I suddenly become extremely wealthy there is not one new vehicle I would buy, because they're all so goddamned ugly. What a great time to own older cars!