Land Rover has changed hands many times. Many car makers have problems making money and the British are no exception. When the British car industry was rationalised and marques were lumped together under the Leyland banner the many poor performers held investment in Land Rover back, with their profits going to support the rest of Leyland.
The sales of Discovery saved Land Rover from total demise, and the luxury market was more profitable. The Defender with its antiquated assembly methods is too expensive to produce. A replacement, if it eventuates, will no doubt be made on a modern assembly line.
When BMW and later Ford bought Jaguar and Land Rover, they never seemed to be interested in investing in Land Rover.
Ford could have been good in Australia if they used their dealership network, but they chose to lump Land Rover Jaguar and Volvo together in the small luxury network. That was fine for Range Rover and Disco, but bad news for Defender, in rural Australia.
Tata has been the best thing to happen to the Land Rover company, but in their relatively short ownership, coinciding with the GFC, it hasn't been possible to replace the Defender.
Fingers and toes crossed, they come up with a worthy replacement, unburdened of the current and traditional weaknesses. However European legislation is major obstacle for a vehicle many Defender fans who travel through outback Australia would wish for.
