Defender Future

[LR NUT]

Useful link you's might like

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/270799/land_rover_to_ditch_defender.html

[Landy-Novice]

serious?

[Mo Murphy]

Pugproud's post at the bottom of the article sums it up for me so I'll post it here for the benefit of those who don't go and look -

When you forget where you came from you eventually loose your way and people become confused about who you are and what you stand for. The Defender anchors Range Rover's image and brand identity to a past worth remembering and valued by a hard core group of consumers. It projects adventure, go anywhere attitude,

adventurenot afraid to get dirty attitude that in the eyes of buyers is the soul of the more expensive models in the line. Loose your soul and eventually you will loose your customers.

Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/270799/land_rover_to_ditch_defender.html#ixzz1TPIF8XYD

Mo

[Landy-Novice]

if they do ditch it, they will sell the rights to it... then god knows what it will become!!! all of todays defenders value will rocket!

[Snagger]

The Derfender is expensive to build because so much of it is assembled by hand rather than robots. Well, the answer would seem to be obvious now that TATA owns LR and has created a factory for JLR in Pune - expand the CKD system and replace the Puma with newer engines when necessary while returning to simpler transmissions and ditching as much of the electronics as possible. I don't like the idea of the Defender not being assembled in the UK, but several countries assemble them from CKD kits and that is part of LR's history all the way back to the early 50s. If it's the only way to keep Defender going, then it's better than killing the icon and the Golden Goose.

Apart from being iconic and having a large mass of enthusiasts, many emergency services, armed forces, utility and commercial users want Defender to continue unmolested so that they will be able to transfer their specialised kit from an old vehicle to a new one without alteration, replacement or recertification - the chassis, mountings and body shell need to stay much the same for that to be possible.

The Defender and its predecessors have proven over the last half century that the design was right first time - no other vehicle has shown the same combination of robustness, adaptability, simplicity and iconic status. That's why so little has changed since the SII rolled out in 1958.

I often think LR have completely lost their way. They now seem to want to be a prestige manufacturer only, not a commercial or utility vehicle manufacturer. They want to build a new vehicle for every possible segment of the domestic 4x4 market and are now entering the 2wd market but are turning their back on the huge commercial, emergency and military fleets. It appears they don't want to sully the image of their prestige Range Rover and Land Rover Discovery/Freelander brand with the concept of the working man. They have become the most extreme snobs. It beggars belief that a vehicle still in such demand with so little development cost needed is under threat.

[Retroanaconda]

(...)

the chassis, mountings and body shell need to stay much the same for that to be possible.

(...)

I highly doubt that will happen. Part of the reason for the changes is the lack of conformity with safety/crash legislation. The Defender has no air bags, no crumple zones and limited roll-over protection. I would think that the new model will certainly have all of these (and more) so the change in basic design/construction is inevitable.

[Landy-Novice]

anyway who wants all that safety **** anyway? the answer is simple. dont crash! or buy a disco. simples

[Anderzander]

I was told they have the replacement on the drawing board (along with a new Range Rover) and are very pleased with both of them.

[zoltan]

I'm actually losing no sleep over this since I am essentially happy with the Land Rovers I have and will be in all likelihood be able to keep them going forever with what is available from the aftermarket. I'm very unlikely to want to spend upwards of £25k on an all electric modern Defender at anytime in the future

[dantd5]

Fatal.....

[will4x4]

There is a new defender, it looks cool

[miketomcat]

There is a new defender, it looks cool

This post is useless without pictures.

Mike

[disco_al]

you mean this one.....

[western]

those are just computer renderings from last year or earlier.

more 'guess what it'll look like' on these links

http://funrover.com/featured/the-new-defender/

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/arb-trucks/27821-new-lr-defender-announced.html see last pic on page 1

[Landy-Novice]

you mean this one.....

reminds me of a hummer :banned: :banned:

and i really hope that the 1st of westerns link is the one they will go with!!!! tdv6? i think it about time for that!

[dailysleaze]

I think the original article is a bit of a marketing ploy to get people up in arms to reinforce to themselves how much they like the Defender.

It's like what Coke did in the 80's with "New Coke". If there's a threat to a product (Pepsi), take it away completely and then the customers show their true colours. The company knows where it stands and the customers prove to themselves how much they wanted it when they didn't have it. Coke then regained their market share. I know it might not have been deliberate by them, but LR could similarly use it to their advantage:

When Coke went ahead with its plan, an immediate and very loud outcry was raised. Long before they'd tasted a sip of it, millions of Americans had decided they hated New Coke. Yes, in blind taste tests people had consistently said they liked the new formula better. However, a soft drink is so much more than merely its flavor; a soda is also its marketing. Coke had spent more than a hundred years convincing the North American population that its product was an integral part of their lives, their very identities. Taste be damned: to do away with Coca-Cola was to rip something vital from the American soul. Americans (never ones to peaceably go along with anything perceived as violating their identity) weren't going to stand for it, and they weren't shy about saying so. [...]The New Coke project had been kept secret for years; this secrecy wouldn't have been possible if company personnel had been questioning test subjects on how they'd feel about the new cola if it were to replace the old one

From here

I don't think LR can get rid of the Defender because 1. it's the roots/ethos of the company for over 60 years, and 2. it's the base model by which it makes the other models look "prestige" in comparison. Get rid of that and the Freelander is then the base model.

The Defender has a brand which is different to all the others and therefore a different market share willing to buy it, that wouldn't buy a Disco. It wouldn't make business sense to get rid of it, albeit the cost saving/safety changes will have to come.

[Snagger]

I highly doubt that will happen. Part of the reason for the changes is the lack of conformity with safety/crash legislation. The Defender has no air bags, no crumple zones and limited roll-over protection. I would think that the new model will certainly have all of these (and more) so the change in basic design/construction is inevitable.

I can't see why any of those can't be designed into the Defender's existing lines - another new dash and steering wheel, a toughened set of pillars, bolt-on crush cans on the front of shortened dumb irons would all be relatively straight forward.

[western]

wonder how Iveco got past not fitting airbags to the Mastiff --- Defender look a like, it's not sold in UK according to the IVECO website, but is sold in Italy, Germany so it must be sold as a pure commercial vehicle. otherwise it cannot comply with the EU regs for airbags.