Thread: The philosophical 2018 Land Rover Series VI / Defender / 'Icon'...

Originally Posted by MrLandy

What do you think Cuppa? Do you think the core philosophy of the Defender will live on? The feel of driving one, that is like nothing else. Will it have flat hose out floors, rock solid chassis, vertical seating position, be agricultural? Or will it try to be all things to all people like all other new 4WD's?

It has to be what LR need it to be and that is the conduit that brings the heritage and most importantly the highly capable, versatile and durable vehicle credibility, to the rest of their fleet.
One would think that that would be a no nonsense vehicle with minimal bells and whistles, in which you could travel all day over any terrain without becoming crippled.
I don't think it will be borrowing another vehicles platform because they're giving themselves until 2018 to get to production. I do think that the platform that it is built on will be designed to lend it's self to development and innovation.
I don't think you can design in the charm factors such as Defender possesses nor should it be attempted. That will come with the end result...or not.
In my humble opinion if it does not approximate what I have described it will be an exercise in futility. They'll toss a great swag of cash down the drain and it will be back to the drawing board.

Originally Posted by cuppabillytea

....... Now we need to determine which Philosophy the Land Rover sprang from and what what Philosophy will give rise to the next generation.

Any reading of the considerable literature written about Landrover introduction will make clear that the original Landrover was intended to provide a go-anywhere vehicle that was more suited to civilian use than the disposals Jeep, which was the only vehicle filling this role in the Empire in 1947 (currency restrictions meant the Willys civilianised Jeep was not an option).

This new niche market was spotted by the Wilkes brothers as an opportunity to save the company, which was facing ruin after its business model of making cars for the middle class home market was no longer viable*, faced with a new government that needed exports to recover from the costs of the war, and which, determined to make Britain into a socialist paradise, had no place for a car owning middle class.

I see no comparable driver for the company today, with their old (pre-war) business model of making cars for the middle class doing very well, thank you! Given this, it is very hard to predict just what philosophy they will adopt for the new Defender. It could be either "more of the same" (luxury cars for the middle class), or a more adventurous move into another market - they are one of the most successful and profitable car companies in the world, and although not one of the largest, they are owned by one of the largest companies in the world.

* The Wilkes brothers saved the company from ruin at the end of the 1920s by stopping trying to compete with Austin, Morris, Ford and Rootes, or with Daimler, Rolls-Royce etc, and selling to the middle class. The Rangerover in 1970 was part of this (remember that Rover cars were still well regarded then), but in the later Leyland years the Rover name was tarnished by an attempt to move into the field they left in the 1920s.

John