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We can only hope that there is enough market pressure from government departments, tradesmen, power / telecoms and other utility companies, etc etc world wide to make it worth their while to still produce a utility vehicle.
Otherwise Toyota is going to simply make a killing.
Nobody else except Toyota offers a quality utility pickup and utility wagons and station-wagons (Land Cruiser LC70 series: 76, 78 and 79) on the same basic light/medium platform: this combination within a fleet is extremely important, purely from the point of single procurement, single resupply, maintenance and driver skilling, spares stock on hand, etc etc.
The Defender WAS filling this gap: 110 pickup, HiCap pickup, hardtop, station wagon and DC.
130 special builds, DC and pickups.
It's a great range and offers a lot of great combinations.
Nobody else offers this combination. It'll be a shame if LR / Tata drops the concept.
Granted, the lifestyle bunch are too small to make a difference, and face it, we must all be warped to actually ENJOY having our right shoulders mashed while we have our left legs mashed.......
But the Series LR was originally a working man's tool, and that's what I still want: a tool, and utility item. I want to drive through the bush and simply wipe dust and bark and plant sap off the bull-bar later. I don't want to wail and gnash my teeth because my paint job is stuffed.
Face it, we're witnessing the end of an era, and those in the know better buy up any and all old Deefers they can still find and afford. We won't see the like come our way ever again.
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Maybe they can see someone as Isuzu and get the motor and gearbox from the current 300 to fit or better yet the 550 :twisted: or at least make it an option for the HCPU versions. Most mine sites require at least drivers airbags to all vehicles done right they can probably make some serious inroads but they will have to have, a proper cyclonic airfilter/donaldson style or similar and a really big water trap. the landcruisers are trading on name at the moment and they are about 25k more than a defender. So say if they got into the market for 10-15k less than a cruiser with a much better vehicle they'd be on a winner.
Although the one dealer here and there trying to make landrover exclusive thing would have to go even if they had defender only dealers, maybe attached to Isuzu dealers.
