Thread: TATA and the new Defender

It will be very interesting to see how much they change it. I am in a dilemma at the moment, roll the work car over early and get the current defender, or wait until I have to replace it next year and see what the new one looks like when it breaks cover.

Honestly I think the answer is very simple. Keep a similar shape with better body finish and quality control. Give it better seals for water ingress, air con and heating with some luxuries most other manufacturers call standard these days. Offer a few levels of trim from basic to all the fruit and put in a more trusted engine variant like the TDV6 or TDV8.
Many more people would buy them then.

Even Toyota have come full circle of sorts with the new FJ.

If Land Rover can keep it simple and retain the aura of the Defender shape, I'd even consider buying new again. (But not till I'd seen if the reliability issues have been solved.)

Originally Posted by CraigE

Honestly I think the answer is very simple. Keep a similar shape with better body finish and quality control. Give it better seals for water ingress, air con and heating with some luxuries most other manufacturers call standard these days. Offer a few levels of trim from basic to all the fruit and put in a more trusted engine variant like the TDV6 or TDV8.
Many more people would buy them then.

There are some key decisions they have to make.

1. Any replacement will have to meet collision and pedestrian safety requirements both now and as far as can be seen into the future, which means it cannot be very similar to the current Defender, although it may have a generally similar appearance.

2. It must be less "hand made" than the current Defender. The only reason that the current Defender can be made with the level of labour input is that most of the design costs and much of the tooling has long since been written off.

3. The principal characteristic of the Defender that makes it different from anything else on the market, is that it is bolted together like a meccano set, enabling a wide range of body options. It is very unlikely that this can be maintained and at the same time meet 1 and 2. Expect it to be of conventional build. Probably all steel, but perhaps, radically, a lot of alloy and plastic.

4. By aiming at a larger market, as they have to, to pay for the cost of an all new model, they run the risk of taking sales from other (more expensive) models. It will be interesting to see how they deal with this.

5. While larger engines would certainly enhance sales in Australia, it would kill most of the "utility" sales in their major markets. While engine options are quite possible, the problem is that having both large and small engine options creates problems for design of the rest of the vehicle, more so than it did in the past as manufacturers are squeezed between design rules and market pressure for safety and fuel economy on one side and design and manufacturing commonality on the other.

John

Originally Posted by VladTepes

Mr Popham said... [it will be] the “most exciting thing, even beyond the Evoque”.

Well, I should flipping well think so!

Let's just hope he does a better job of it.

Just as the Rang Rover was breakthrough from current 4WD, so the new Defender should be a break through.

What about :

[1] Engine, something like a Moller orbital engine (very few parts) that can run on diesel, petrol, kero... coupled to a generator.

[2] Transmission - none

[3] Final Drive - an electric motor at each wheel hub.

[4] Chassis - alloy

[5] Body - modular plastic with alloy skeleton - bolt on/off variants (truck / bus / camper / ambulance ....) Also reduces NVH.

[6] interior design - strong and slim, unlike the bulky seats in the current Defender. reduce weight and add to feeling of uncluttered interior space.

Weight can be brought to under 1,500kg.
Seating can be increased to 12 (more commercial applications)
Engine / Drive costs reduced and comes in as a hybrid for tax purposes in various markets.
Repairs - easy bolt on / off - no oil leaks

That would be the next breakthrough step that will take the others 10-30 years to copy.

Points at Michael2: "Winner!!"

I was lucky enough to drive the new Defender 2 weeks ago and was very impressed with it. I thought SWMBO and little SWMBO would hate it but they both loved it. SWMBO currently drives around in a Jackaroo and loves that too. Landrover has released a new set of lower door rubbers (which is on here somewhere) and the sealing looks very good. The car drove beautifully, handled great and went like a rocket. The only complaints I had was
1/ the crap factory stereo and standard speakers
2/the drumming/hollowness in the back (which could be easily rectified with $500.00 worth of Dynamatt and rubber sheeting.
a little attention to detail is all that it needs.
What to do, I'm so confused