Thread: All discussions relating to the Defenders end of production

But not built the same way.

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Originally Posted by MrLandy

Why?

Because the design, tooling, and certification costs have to be amortised over a sufficiently large volume that it can be sold at a price that will sell.

The existing Defender has for nearly seventy years used largely existing designs for most of the vehicle - even more than that if you consider the Series gearbox was first sold in 1932.

The increasing stringency of design rules has made it essential to completely redesign the vehicle - although one way of reducing this cost is to make a lot of use of existing designs, and hence the probability of using the Disc 3/4 platform. The problem with this approach is they have to steer between producing a design that is (obviously) the same design with cosmetic changes, and making so many changes that would have been less cost to have started from a clean sheet!

And I think that the reason for the successive postponements of the end of production, and uncertainty about what will replace it is that Land Rover have had trouble deciding just what to do.

John

Bespoke? Like Bugatti, Ferrari etc? A limited amount made so expensive no one would buy one?

Your arguments go around in circles.

It should stay the same, it's should be rugged, it should be affordable, it should be bespoke, it should be low volume....

The current defender is unique - only because it is a dinosaur in a digital age.

If someone had tried to release that design onto the market even 10 years ago they would have been laughed out of existence..

It's only selling in volume now because it is a modern dinosaur and will soon become extinct.

I've had one - loved it - Emma has a 90 - we love it too...

The end of an era, and the birth of a new model line is not a bad thing - sometimes we need to cherish the past but embrace the future.

If you choose to hold onto your little slice of the past; that's a great thing too... We all love the classics, the memories they invoke etc...

I've enjoyed every single vehicle I've ever owned.. Including the newest versions.

Time will tell if the new one is a success - and I'm betting it will be... In its own right...

I can do everything I want offroad and on in a D4/3/2 and go exactly where the Defender was taken... Technology is not a boundary to adventure, nor are a few curves or composite materials. After all - the original LR was a composite of Alloys and Steel

Originally Posted by Tombie

Bespoke? Like Bugatti, Ferrari etc? A limited amount made so expensive no one would buy one?

Your arguments go around in circles.

It should stay the same, it's should be rugged, it should be affordable, it should be bespoke, it should be low volume....

Loving the banter Tombie 😊 ...If a 2015 hand-made Defender is $50,000, surely a new model, using mass production techniques might still come in under $80,000 (the price of pretty much any other large 4WD) even if the volumes sold are not as great as more mainstream vehicles.

Originally Posted by Tombie

The current defender is unique - only because it is a dinosaur in a digital age.
rubbish, it's because it is an extraordinary design in its own right
If someone had tried to release that design onto the market even 10 years ago they would have been laughed out of existence..
defenders have been laughed out of existence unsuccessfully for decades!
It's only selling in volume now because it is a modern dinosaur and will soon become extinct.

I've had one - loved it - Emma has a 90 - we love it too...

The end of an era, and the birth of a new model line is not a bad thing - sometimes we need to cherish the past but embrace the future.
yes totally agree, but not by rejecting the essence of great design in favour of homogenisation.
If you choose to hold onto your little slice of the past; that's a great thing too... We all love the classics, the memories they invoke etc...

I've enjoyed every single vehicle I've ever owned.. Including the newest versions.

Time will tell if the new one is a success - and I'm betting it will be... In its own right...
it depends on your definition of success; great design? Or high profit?
I can do everything I want offroad and on in a D4/3/2 and go exactly where the Defender was taken... Technology is not a boundary to adventure, nor are a few curves or composite materials. After all - the original LR was a composite of Alloys and Steel

i like your optimism but I'm yet to be convinced about disco durability

Originally Posted by Didge

Andrew86, I don't know about the Defender being as good a car as we know its ever going to be - I've read about more faults with the late model cars than I can believe - diffs letting go at 70,000km, electrical faults, etc, etc so I suspect there are more than a few improvements JLR can make

I didn't mean the current car was perfect, it isn't, but there aren't going to be any more improvements made to the Defender as we know it today. It's as good as it's ever going to get because there isn't going to be another revision or update.

I'm confident the new Defender will be fantastic and I can't wait to see what JLR comes up with. I don't think many people will consider the older cars redundant when it arrives though.

The Defender is as iconic as the 911, it'll never truly be replaced.

I would hope Land Rover make a decent Defender replacement, and I am sure the target market is those who buy other brands, would be foolish to aim the new Defender to the die hard few who love to drive a tractor like 4wd, times have changed and the Defender must move on, volume sales are what they need to make it happen, a return to the USA is a must, and a Defender that as all the bells and whistle's as a Range Rover Sport will satisfy most buyers, just by calling it a Defender will be a enough to generate sales.

That said they do need a base version, Toyota. Ford. VW etc all do the same so hopefully Land Rover Will.