Steve King Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 http://www.autocar.c...AllCars/261076/ Depresssing news, but not totally unexpected :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Given the horrendous build quality that sometimes comes out of our Solihull factor that might not be as bad a thing as you'd think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landy-Novice Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 wow. so its new adopted sister will be this. The basic styling of Land Rover’s recent DC100 concepts is understood to be very close to that planned for the new Defender, although details such as wheels, lights, grilles and interior styling will all change. thats most of the vehicle isn't it? a but OT but the new 2.2 has a top speed of 90mph!!! :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 I guess the choice of India as a manufacturing base is not that surprising. One of the main issues associated with building the current Defender is labour cost, both because it is made in the UK and because it is labour intensive to build being non-robotised - allegedly costing more per unit to make than a Range Rover. Being Indian does not mean it will be poorly built, that is rather down to Landrover QC being on the ball. I rather suspect that they will be making a BIG effort to get the Defender right and prove to the world that Indian built cars can be good quality, reliable cars to compete on the world stage as I doubt this is the last model they intend to make in/move to India! There cannot be much spare room at the Solihull factory these days either, perhaps they intend to build something else on what is now the Defender line - perhaps they anticipate that demand could not be met with the existing Defender line! All just speculation of course. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveG Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 http://www.autocar.c...AllCars/261076/ Depresssing news, but not totally unexpected :( Why is it?? Last summer JLR pledged to hire 1000 more engineers in uk over next 2 years. Last November it announced 1000 more staff to be hired in Solihull. In the summer it started offering apprenticeships at Ellesmere. If building the next Defender means it can be priced to compete, be more profitable and sell in larger numbers then that's a good thing for JLR and all of its current a future employees in uk and overseas. For example, it's no good going after the commercial market when you are almost 2x the price of most far eastern produced truck cabs etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 If they can manufacture cheaper , that might allow them to put a decent powertrain in a defender again !!! hopefully something with right power characteristics for a work horse type vehicle JMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 I think it is a real positive, the news is that they may build the current Defender in India but build the DC100 in both, this can only be a good thing, apart from the obvious advantage around driving down cost, European regulations will soon prevent the Defender being sold in the EU, they have already had to make it a commercial vehicle to extend it's life. Churning out the current defender or the ROW defender to fill a gap in developing countries will help to ensure a healthy spares market, and possibly even more innovation in the after-market innovation arena. Jason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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