Disco-Ron Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 A friend recently did the factory tour..... They claim that everything will be destroyed when production stops. End of. Also. The replacement has been signed off and production processes are being built up now. .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Where do I collect my tin-foil hat (or should that be birmabright beanie?) Yes, it's all a big conspiracy to get rid of the Defender and nothing whatsoever to do with it being far more expensive to drag a 50-year-old design of car up to (the barest minimum of) modern standards than to start again from scratch and sort all the problems out properly. The fact they have a team of men with hammers on the production line just to try and stop the rain coming in might suggest the substance needs a little attention, not just the style... it's 2015 FFS. There is a sad truth in here. The Land Rover that became a Defender worked well in another era but the motor industry has changed hugely. Land Rover could build a better Defender, one which is even more practical, more efficient, more capable in rough conditions, less prone to breaking and leaking and just as good looking. They COULD make something amazing because they are the people most able to do so. They can't do this with old technology simply because the cost of hand-building is too high but they can do this with a clean sheet design. That's something the enthusiast could embrace! However..... market forces suggest they will, instead, build something which is stuffed full of electronics with a very road-orientated engine and butt-ugly headlights etc. etc. It will be more about image than remote-location or home workshop practicality. It will wrap the occupants in cotton wool so it will be less practical as cotton wool takes space. It will do amazing off-road things on test tracks but would I want to use one in the Red Centre or remote Siberia? Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 There is a sad truth in here. The Land Rover that became a Defender worked well in another era but the motor industry has changed hugely. Land Rover could build a better Defender, one which is even more practical, more efficient, more capable in rough conditions, less prone to breaking and leaking and just as good looking. They COULD make something amazing because they are the people most able to do so. They can't do this with old technology simply because the cost of hand-building is too high but they can do this with a clean sheet design. That's something the enthusiast could embrace! However..... market forces suggest they will, instead, build something which is stuffed full of electronics with a very road-orientated engine and butt-ugly headlights etc. etc. It will be more about image than remote-location or home workshop practicality. It will wrap the occupants in cotton wool so it will be less practical as cotton wool takes space. It will do amazing off-road things on test tracks but would I want to use one in the Red Centre or remote Siberia? Sigh. As much as I dislike short replies following huge quotes I will make an exception to say the above wraps it up nicely. There are multi page threads of conjecture and speculation based on nothing much more than hearsay, rumour and dubious press reports on other forums regarding the potential Defender replacement so much so that there really is very little left to say. However the growth in demand from private individuals for blinged up late model "urban" Defenders that show scant regard to the utility and off road abilities of the vehicle would suggest that there is a market for something where looks and gizmo's are more imortant than any real "practical" ability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 There is a sad truth in here. The Land Rover that became a Defender worked well in another era but the motor industry has changed hugely. Land Rover could build a better Defender, one which is even more practical, more efficient, more capable in rough conditions, less prone to breaking and leaking and just as good looking. They have. It's called a Discovery Commercial, and is what I'll be replacing my 90TD5 with shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Well I hope they make a statement soon and I hope it includes a pickup as although I've had over 80k fault free miles out the Isuzu so far I'd love to be able to replace it with something locally made Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 They have. It's called a Discovery Commercial, and is what I'll be replacing my 90TD5 with shortly. It would seem we disagree on what "practical" really means! (Mind you, if I was stinking rich I'd consider wafting around in a Discovery 4. Nice cars, I guess.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh NZ Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I don't think NZ got the commercial model Don. That version is a bit more basic than your average north shore tractor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Where do I collect my tin-foil hat (or should that be birmabright beanie?) Yes, it's all a big conspiracy to get rid of the Defender and nothing whatsoever to do with it being far more expensive to drag a 50-year-old design of car up to (the barest minimum of) modern standards than to start again from scratch and sort all the problems out properly. The fact they have a team of men with hammers on the production line just to try and stop the rain coming in might suggest the substance needs a little attention, not just the style... it's 2015 FFS. Exactly my veiw, it has to let go of it's historical flaws, it can still retain the design mantra (although it lost that many years ago and building it in the 2nd or 3rd world was it's mantra ironically). Other LR producfs whilst not without issues are heralded as being world leaders but not the Defender as it is held back by 1940's design roots where the others had free reigns get up to date! When enthusiasts held protest rallys to stop design changes my thought was that they weren't even the target market so why would it concern LR as they don't reflect the people who buy new anyway! As for saying that it is imorral to continuing building it as is for safety reasons is daft, does that mean that when the EU makes a change we should scrap a car you bought yesterday! Should we follow EU belief that all 15 year old cars should be scrapped! If so we on this forum are immoral by keeping them on the road (oh we off road but never mind that issue)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I don't think NZ got the commercial model Don. That version is a bit more basic than your average north shore tractor! I realise that but it's still a complex beasty underneath. I did see the NZ version with seats out one day and it had an amazing amount of room inside. I'll concede that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I had the recent opportunity to Test drive a D4 at LR experience at Dunkeld. Absolutely amazing machine around there built course, which may or may not replicate real life 4x4'ing, but its an impressive bit of kit. Me being me and recognising that the instructor was a bit of a Land Rover fan too (owning 5 green ovals herself....) I laid on the questioning pretty thick, to see what I could find out..... well pretty much nothing, she stated that other than the concept vehicle that appeared yonks ago, they hadn't been given any heads up on the new replacement, and evidently that was unusual as the experience places often got pre production cars to test out new components, and her summarisation was that the Discovery would become the next in line for being the Utilitarian Land Rover vehicle of choice, again just hearsay, but it kinda ties into the general direction that JLR seem to be going. Driving the D4 open my eyes a bit to a fancy modern 4x4 and lets face it Defenders aren't all going to turn to dust the minute the toll bell sounds at Solihull, embrace the change, and lets hope that the next LR offing isn't to expensive to be enjoyed by all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I think there will be something new, the Discovery Sport is/has replaced the Freelander which frees off the freelander parts and production facilities. They're still making freelander kits for india so the plant is still oging but must have spare capacity. The freelander floor plan, the new land rover 500cc per cylinder diesel and some of the associated parts / production facilities would make for a good start for a defender replacement I would've thought? Then we can have the defender sport which will be in direct competition with the mini countryman, fiat 500x, jeep renegade etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I think there will be something new, the Discovery Sport is/has replaced the Freelander which frees off the freelander parts and production facilities. Um, the Disco Sport & Evoque are Freelanders, different body, same platform as far as I'm aware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Told you it was a good idea, they've already done it! Maybe not then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 That’d suggest the upcoming Discovery 5 and much-anticipated Defender replacement will wear the SVX badge first. Paul grins, and suggests that’s a very logical step… “They won’t be SPECTRE-style cars”, Paul [Newsome, Director of JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations] says. “Think of those like caricatures, characters in a film. Those Defenders are basically the last in the line of a very old vehicle, which doesn’t have the technology of a Range Rover or Range Rover Sport. “It’s impossible to include it. SVO needs to make advanced, premium vehicles, so the next Defender will use a lot, lot more technology for its all-terrain performance.” http://www.topgear.com/car-news/bond-cars/jlrs-special-ops-department-planning-extreme-road-land-rovers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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