Long live the Defender

[Larns]

This will cause some contreversy

A good friend of mine is the head of sales for Landrover in Bathurst. Whilst chewing the fat over a couple of beers at christmas, he broke the news to me that Land Rover Aust have withdrawn his dealership from him affective as of Oct this year. Apparently they are only going to keep two or three open in N.S.W, Ford are planning to turn the Discovery into a prestige car with ALL the options, aiming for the kind of market that Rangerovers sold to five to ten years ago, they will be directly compeating with the like's of BMW and Merc's. With the price tag to suite.

Ford are also going to stop sales (I don't think production, I may be wrong though) of the Defender in Aust very soon. Apparently because they don't have air bags and side intrusion in the doors (and they are still the only 4WD hand assembled, which makes them extreamly expensive to make) Ford want nothing to do with them.

He said as far as the 90 is conserned, hes still able to get them in an has heard nothing about LR not importing it any more. But with the demise of the defender I suppose it's irrelevent anyhow.

Scary stuff for defender followers.

Larns

[LandyAndy]

Hi Larns
Thats not good info,both on the end of the Defender and LR removing franchises from dealers.
I dont doubt what you are saying but I hope they arent stopping the Defender,I want one preferably a new one,but cant see me being able to finance one in the next 6 months. :cry: :cry: :cry:
Andrew

[Ace]

That is disturbing as the Bathurst dealer is my local dealer.

His comments on the disco and defender dont seem right though. Only time will tell, i find it hard to beleive that Ford will ruin Land Rovers heritage as this is what has sold so many vehicles during its life so far. Lets hope you mate is wrong Larns, for ours and Land Rovers sake. Matt

[Outlaw]

Knight, any chance you can find some solid gossip at all on this??

[Ace]

Originally posted by Outlaw
Knight, any chance you can find some solid gossip at all on this??

Yeah, i to would be interested in how much truth there is in this. Lets hope any sense LRA had, hasnt completely gone up in smoke. Matt

[hiline]

they carnt do that :evil: :evil: :evil:

what new truck could i buy then :?: :?:

[medic455]

Originally posted by hiline
they carnt do that :evil: :evil: :evil:

what new truck could i buy then :?: :?:

A Landrover Def.....sorry Ford Bronco... 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O :x :x

[Redbak]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Land Rover Aust have withdrawn his dealership from him affective as of Oct this year[/b][/quote]

My dealer told me LR closed FOURTY FIVE dealerships throughout Australia.
My dealer was also one of them.

Davo

[hiline]

redbak who is your dealer

stewart webster ??

[Redbak]

Unfortunatley Yes ... :cry:

Was real handy, only ten minutes away.
Now I have to drive to bloody Malvern and rub shoulders
with the Toorak Tractor Brigade, when I need a service. :twisted:

Davo

[hiline]

why not lifestyle here in the gully ??

[Redbak]

Originally posted by hiline
why not lifestyle here in the gully ??

Did consider them, but I think they are a fair bit further away.
Do they do a day car ?, and are you satisfied with there work ?

Davo

[Knight]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'> My dealer told me LR closed FOURTY FIVE dealerships throughout Australia.
[/b][/quote]

:evil: :roll: :evil:

ALL i can say to this information is:

8O :evil: 8O YES THIS IS CORRECT AND THIS IS HAPPENING! 8O :evil: 8O

I cannot say anymore on it - other than - <span style="color:red">YES</span> - it is going happen 8O - leaving only metro dealerships and the odd one or two regional dealerships left............

This HAS happened already - the franchise owners do know about all of this - they were told late last year - and NO - the public are not supposed to know of this for a while yet.................

Sorry Guys (i hate confirming this kind of news) but it is the truth....

Cheers
Knight :wink:

[hiline]

no i dont use any dealers now
stopped after warranty work style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

the guy i use is in Ringwood
great guy

but he doesn't have any loan cars :evil:

[Outlaw]

i think i'm safe luckily (not that i actually use a dealer, but probably will if i get a newer model)... my guy was supposedly voted best dealer in Qld or Aust... one or the other :? either way, just drive to the coast, but he does charge an arm and a leg (and sometimes a thigh) :twisted:

[hiline]

outlaw

all stealers are the same :evil: :evil:

once they wanted to take the wife and kids as well
never mind my arms and legs :wink: :wink:

[Phoenix]

well that has to be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard!!!

Talk about ruining my day :evil:

[VladTepes]

So, how many kids did you have to offload to get the 130 :?:

(Maybe I'd better get busy...) :wink:

[noddy]

Originally posted by VladTepes
So, how many kids did you have to offload to get the 130 :?:

(Maybe I'd better get busy...) :wink:

Don't forget the Federal Government's $3,000 'Baby Bonus' -- that covers the bull bar and the roof rack as well!

[p38arover]

Modern Motors at Dungog will be losing their franchise despite being one of the biggest sellers of LR in the State.

Geoff King Coffs Harbour has lost his dealership.

Going north there will be Alto LR Artarmon, Alto LR Newcastle, then Tamworth then Brisbane.

Ron

[VladTepes]

WTF are they doing :?:

Outlaw has posted a couple of news articles (see home page) which desribe Land Rover's increasing strengths as a company with increased profitability and sales.

Surely closing dealerships is not in that interest.


Here's my theory.

In major centres (read capital cities) there will be a few "LandRover Lifestyle Centres" - large shops which will sell vehicles. LR branded bicycles, LR clothing, LR toys etc etc etc all at hugely inflated prices. They will include workshops where you can sit down and have a latte while your car is serviced.... and so on.

In country areas, Land Rover sales and servicing will be taken over by Ford dealerships. Some (not all) of these will become joint branded Ford / LR dealerships.

So, do ya reckon I'm close...... :?:

The main issues I have are:
1. They are getting rid of dealers with years of experience, knowledge, and a customer base. (and try getting series or even older 110 models etc info from a Ford Dealer) :roll:

2. They need to maintain an extensive dealer newtwork / spares availability to have an ongoing presence in thius country. History has taught that lesson, but will they heed it ? Thus my theory about the Ford dealerships.

[Redbak]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>In major centres (read capital cities) there will be a few "LandRover Lifestyle Centres" - large shops which will sell vehicles. LR branded bicycles, LR clothing, LR toys etc etc etc all at hugely inflated prices. [/b][/quote]

This describes the "Shop" at Solihull, maybe its a prototype ... :cry:

Davo

[hiline]

Originally posted by VladTepes
So, how many kids did you have to offload to get the 130 :?:

(Maybe I'd better get busy...) :wink:

none to buy it
only to get it serviced by a dealer
:wink:

[noddy]

Vlad -- the brave new world for LRA as you have described is not all badl, however:

1. there is no certainty that it will happen;
2. it sounds like the process they have followed to cull their existing dealership is flawed.

I have no problem with LRA culling non-performing dealerships in regional centres. Lets face, some are no more than a fluro sign. They are dealerships selling multiple brands and providing no meaningful support to the LR brand in either sales or service.

If LRA can negotiate a distribution network in conjunction with Ford (yet to be seen), it will provide one of the largest networks in the country, capable of rivalling Toyo and Nissan. That cannot be a bad thing, especially when they have the confidence of new models to really push against the Japs.

The way I see LRA, and it has been the case since JRA was dissolved, is a rudderless ship in all facets of its business; marketing, product development, distribution/channels. The company is moribund, except when a new model arrives off the boat from the old country!

Going straight for the jugular....if Ford Australia took over everything in terms of marketing, distribution and even service, the franchise would be in better hands. At the end of the day, the only thing going for LRA is the vehicles they try to sell....and they cannot even do that very well.

[VladTepes]

Amen.

[Ace]

Originally posted by Redbak
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Land Rover Aust have withdrawn his dealership from him affective as of Oct this year

My dealer told me LR closed FOURTY FIVE dealerships throughout Australia.
My dealer was also one of them.

Davo[/b][/quote]

WTF!!!! How the hell do ford think they will make money by letting things like that happen. As if getting people to buy them wanst hard enough with a lack advertising, now people wont buy them because 1- there isnt anywhere to buy them. 2- people want to be able to get good service, if they cant they wont buy the vehicle, no matter how good it is. Matt

[LandyAndy]

Wouldnt mind betting that within the next 12 months you will be able to buy your Landys and service/parts from your local ford dealer.
Andrew

[Ace]

Originally posted by LandyAndy
Wouldnt mind betting that within the next 12 months you will be able to buy your Landys and service/parts from your local ford dealer.
Andrew

Thats what the Bathurst Dealer is- a Ford/Mitsubishi/Land Rover Dealer. Matt

[Gaz69]

There has been speculation in the media that Ford is Trialling the V6 diesel from the Landrover in their Territory. If they go ahead with production you can bet your bottom dollar that Ford dealers will share showroom space with Landrover.
I hope the local dealer here in Mildura looses their franchise as they are useless. Mate of mine went shopping last year for replacement for his Pajero and they told him not to buy a Disco. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif He ended up buying new Pajero from another town!
Mind you the dealer in Broken hill is pretty good. Helps Dad out and they do carry some spares. Local dealer here did not even have an A/C belt for my defender :evil:

Gaz

[LandyAndy]

If that V6 diesel ends up in the Territory,odds on the Falcoon products will get it.What a marketing advantage over the Dunnydoors.
Andrew

[Larns]

The V6 diesel from the ford is the same as what is going into the Disco's, 4ltr. From what I was explained, ford's plan of attack was to push the Disco to the next level, an put one of their vehicals into the market to replace the Defender's. Don't quite know what they think will ever replace the defender, is that what the territory is for?.
I don't ever see the territory as having a cult following that the defender has!
Only time will tell, crossed fingers.

Larns

[LRHybrid100]

How many of us actually go to main dealers?

I know my cars only go there for warranty / recalls only.

Seeing there are many many non franchise dealers around, then we should be supporting the likes of these - just like British 4WD / Karcraft / British Off Road / KLR to name a few.

If we can get parts though a Ford dealer then this would also allow LR to take the fight to Tojo / ****an all over the Country will access to Fords in most towns.

ALL LR are doing are realising their most potential market and shaping their business to maximise this - good business sense in anyones eyes.
I'm not totally happy about this, but rather this happen than LR pull out of Australia totally because of uneconomic business practices.

Just my 10c

LRH

[noddy]

I am currently going to a Landy Dealer, when my warranty runs out in the next couple of months it will be see ya!

[hiline]

if they didn't charge so much
maybe we would use them more 8O

[Yabbie]

Age old game the less business someone gets the more they charge to cover their losses, then they loose more becuase of their high prices.

Seems simple really lower he prices sell more, only that way doesnt make you rich overnight like so many business people want these days.

[VladTepes]

Originally posted by LRHybrid100

Just my 10c

LRH

I agree. Here's your 90c change..... style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

[Ace]

The only thing the defender will be replaced with is another defender, Land Rover have made numerous comments during the release of Discovery 3, that the chassis which is the back bone of Discovery 3 was developed with the intention of using it for the Defender. Ford my not know much about land rover, but they are doing well so far and anyone with half a brain can see how popular the defender has been, christ it shaped land rover 54 years ago, they would be mad to cancel it out. It will be back bigger and better. All i can see ford doing is adding more models to the range to fill in the gaps created by customer demand, ie the RR Sport. Dont stress boys, defender will be back bigger and better. Matt

[DEFENDERZOOK]

garthons at hurstville closed down last year and i thought that was strange as they were always busy and had great mechanics and heaps of experience.
i find out now that have combined with purnell motors at arncliffe.

so....im just wondering if all the experienced land rover mechanics just move on to the ford dealerships as more mechanics will be required by ford.



and as you all know with a land rover you gotta know the whole car from a$$hole to breakfasthole to be able to work on it.

[Ace]

Originally posted by DEFENDERZOOK
garthons at hurstville closed down last year and i thought that was strange as they were always busy and had great mechanics and heaps of experience.
i find out now that have combined with purnell motors at arncliffe.

so....im just wondering if all the experienced land rover mechanics just move on to the ford dealerships as more mechanics will be required by ford.



and as you all know with a land rover you gotta know the whole car from a$$hole to breakfasthole to be able to work on it.

It is more reasuring knowing someone who knows what they are doing, and are experienced in youre vehicle. Matt

[DEFENDERZOOK]

yeah well ...with 45 or so dealerships closing down as mentioned thats a lot of mechanics gonna be lookin for work.

i think they will be in demand.


ask whoever it was that just did their heads on the v8 rangie how long it took to get them off. with a bit of experience both heads will be sitting on the bench within 30-40mins.

can you imagine paying someone by the hour to learn on your car?
the job will still get done but will take longer as they need to keep referring to the workshop manual. no different to doing the job yourself.
experince however tells you where not to follow the manual to do a better job or to make the thing go better or last longer etc.


i think these mechanics will be in demand or there will be a lot of backyard repairs happening on weekends.

bonnets these days are so crammed that you cant see what you are doing like the good old days....you gotta know where everything is and do it by feel half the time. can only do that with experience.

all we can do now is wait n see what happens.....

[Ace]

Thats it DZ, just sit back and wait. I think you are right about the whole Land Rover/Ford combination. However i cannot understand why they would close the Bathurst dealership when it is already Ford/Land Rover. Matt

[DEFENDERZOOK]

one way of stopping the exploders i guess.

[Ace]

Originally posted by DEFENDERZOOK
one way of stopping the exploders i guess.

I hear water is pretty good too. Matt style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

[DEFENDERZOOK]

in bathurst?

[Ace]

Originally posted by DEFENDERZOOK
in bathurst?

:?: In Bathurst what? Havent you been following rebacks story, he sunk his explorer in a river and wrote it off. Matt

[DEFENDERZOOK]

any excuse to get into a landie..............

[hiline]

costly excuse :!:

[DEFENDERZOOK]

but it worked

[VladTepes]

Is that how he convinced the missus :?:

or is she still in there..... 8O

[Ace]

Originally posted by hiline
costly excuse :!:

Costly for the insurance company maybe. Matt

[LandyAndy]

Perhaps I should get the missus to go wash HER Trytoo in the Williams river,may get MY Xtreme a bit quicker style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif
Andrew

[Ace]

Originally posted by LandyAndy
Perhaps I should get the missus to go wash HER Trytoo in the Williams river,may get MY Xtreme a bit quicker style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif
Andrew

Just do it yourself, it will be quicker. Matt

[LandyAndy]

Well I have to go and work for a farmer on sat.Perhaps I should take it and park it above a dam,then forget to put the landbrake on style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif
Andrew

[Ace]

Originally posted by LandyAndy
Well I have to go and work for a farmer on sat.Perhaps I should take it and park it above a dam,then forget to put the landbrake on style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif
Andrew

Now you are thinking. matt

[hiline]

or let the tractor flatten it 8O 8O

would bring tears to your eye's though :cry: :cry:

[Reads90]

Originally posted by Larns
This will cause some contreversy

A good friend of mine is the head of sales for Landrover in Bathurst. Whilst chewing the fat over a couple of beers at christmas, he broke the news to me that Land Rover Aust have withdrawn his dealership from him affective as of Oct this year. Apparently they are only going to keep two or three open in N.S.W, Ford are planning to turn the Discovery into a prestige car with ALL the options, aiming for the kind of market that Rangerovers sold to five to ten years ago, they will be directly compeating with the like's of BMW and Merc's. With the price tag to suite.

Ford are also going to stop sales (I don't think production, I may be wrong though) of the Defender in Aust very soon. Apparently because they don't have air bags and side intrusion in the doors (and they are still the only 4WD hand assembled, which makes them extreamly expensive to make) Ford want nothing to do with them.

He said as far as the 90 is conserned, hes still able to get them in an has heard nothing about LR not importing it any more. But with the demise of the defender I suppose it's irrelevent anyhow.

Scary stuff for defender followers.

Larns

Yeah the dealerships are going as all ready has been said, they are going for less is more angle
As for Ford, well A yank is in charge of your Land Rover Australia dealerships, so what do you expect.
Ford used to have a moto of Race it Sunday and sell it Monday, but they are pulling out of motor sport (well in Uk anyway)

The Defender is up for a change soon.
But the defender at the moment is working on 50 year old safty test.
Main due to the fact , if you don't change the bulk Head as we call it (you call it fire wall) then you don't have to get the truck to have a new safty test. Hence why the wheel spats , as a S1 and S2 have the same bulkhead size as a new Defender.
This why it is no longer sold in America. Also it was sold with the "nice cage", not for looks but so it would pass the safty test. But made it look cool.
A company down the road from me Here in the Uk was give a defender steering wheel and told to put an airbag in it. They laughed and handed it back.
But due to new radical testing the new defender will be totally differant to what we are used to .

[LandyAndy]

Sorry Ace,still doesnt work.
As I have said before,I will maintain the Trytoo etc,she is happy with it.If the TRYTOO gets wrecked then the Xtreme is hers.How much of a pasting am I going to cop on here if I own a Series BUT the handbrake has a Xtreme????
She keeps the mitsa****ttty I get the "Fender" IM a sort of patient person "WILLING TO WAIT FOR A SHORT TIME" style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif
Andrew

[rmp]

Don't know about the dealerships, but LR have confirmed there will be no more imports of the Defender 90 and 130. I expec the 110 will stay but that's just my personal opinion.

[noddy]

Originally posted by rmp
Don't know about the dealerships, but LR have confirmed there will be no more imports of the Defender 90 and 130. I expec the 110 will stay but that's just my personal opinion.

rmp -- this has been a well founded 'rumour' for some time, but who did you have this confirmed by in LR? Have they put out anything publicly?

[rmp]

I first heard of the D90 cut some months ago from two sources, but LR were officially denying it. The 130 tip came after that.

Now we have official confirmation from LR for both.

So buy them while you can.

You are unlikely to see any official announcement, manufacturers tend not to do that with bad news.

[p38arover]

Originally posted by hiline+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hiline)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-VladTepes
So, how many kids did you have to offload to get the 130 :?:

(Maybe I'd better get busy...) :wink:

none to buy it
only to get it serviced by a dealer
:wink:[/b][/quote]

Could have been worse - you might have had to have the wife serviced by the dealer. :wink:

Ron

[Yabbie]

That would add a new meaning to "Just lube her up mate!!" :twisted:

[Ace]

How would they do an oil change? 8O 8O Matt

[DEFENDERZOOK]

the oil change is nothing


its the filter change you gotta worry about.

[Ace]

How far apart are the service intervals. Matt

[DEFENDERZOOK]

about two feet

[Ace]

Originally posted by DEFENDERZOOK
about two feet

style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

[VladTepes]

Originally posted by rmp
Don't know about the dealerships, but LR have confirmed there will be no more imports of the Defender 90 and 130. I expec the 110 will stay but that's just my personal opinion.

Bastards Bastards Bastards :!: :!: :!: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

I ant me a 130, and I want it now.

Given that I have no possible means of purchasing one, however, it's VERY bad news.

RMP you are a bastard too. (Yes, I know I'm killing the messenger but that's the way it goes style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif )