Thread: RIP Defender....

If the report is to be believed, how far do they go before Land Rover stop being Land Rover? Dropping a 'base' model surely is walking away from what made them great in the first place?

I would have thought that they sell enough Defenders currently to justify the new one, otherwise LR would have stop making them ages ago ... ?

If it was April I'd say it was a joke. I guess time will tell if this story is true - it goes against everything Land Rover have been saying lately though!

Glad I'm rebuilding mine.

i don't see a problem with land rover moving on.........thats business, my bet is whatever they bring out will outsell the defenders

prett happy that i have defender though, when it needs replacing i will see what the market has to offer

Reads like pure speculation.

Originally Posted by Cobber

If the report is to be believed, how far do they go before Land Rover stop being Land Rover? Dropping a 'base' model surely is walking away from what made them great in the first place?

I would have thought that they sell enough Defenders currently to justify the new one, otherwise LR would have stop making them ages ago ... ?

Have you walked into a Jeep dealership and asked for an MB? What about a Jaguar dealer and asked for an E-Type?

About the only automotive manufacturer that still makes its model that made them great is Morgan.

No automotive manufacturer is going to continue to build a low volume model that is illegal to sell in Europe and North America, and which at the same time uses expensive labour intensive processes to build, in a factory that would be most efficiently utilised to expand production of high volume models using the latest production robots.

I think I'll sit back and watch what actually ends up happening.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Have you walked into a Jeep dealership and asked for an MB? What about a Jaguar dealer and asked for an E-Type?

About the only automotive manufacturer that still makes its model that made them great is Morgan.

Fair call, but by taking away a 'base' model, surely they are pricing themselves out of the market? Unless it's a market they aren't really interested in anymore? (I realise a new Defender isn't that cheap!) Granted they don't have as big a slice as Toyota et al, but surely it's still worth contending (with a new model)

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

No automotive manufacturer is going to continue to build a low volume model that is illegal to sell in Europe and North America, and which at the same time uses expensive labour intensive processes to build, in a factory that would be most efficiently utilised to expand production of high volume models using the latest production robots.

This was raised about the new Defender, not the old - would the new one be illegal to sell in Europe and North America? Is it labour intensive to build? Surely the new one would be built with the best robotic technologies available to them, thus reducing costs? Ultimately I guess it's all about margins, and if they can make a bigger margin selling a Premium car then I guess that's what they will do seeing how they are already in the market.

As you say, all we can do is sit back and watch what unfolds

Stories like this pop up every few years in some form or other. The company has done so little with the Defender for so long it's doomed anyway.

Originally Posted by Cobber

Fair call, but by taking away a 'base' model, surely they are pricing themselves out of the market? Unless it's a market they aren't really interested in anymore? (I realise a new Defender isn't that cheap!) Granted they don't have as big a slice as Toyota et al, but surely it's still worth contending (with a new model)

I don't think JLR are even considering the market share of Toyota, but what is JLRs Defender market volume and how they will produce it with the available resources calculating in reduced support from Tata.

Originally Posted by Cobber

This was raised about the new Defender, not the old - would the new one be illegal to sell in Europe and North America? Is it labour intensive to build? Surely the new one would be built with the best robotic technologies available to them, thus reducing costs? Ultimately I guess it's all about margins, and if they can make a bigger margin selling a Premium car then I guess that's what they will do seeing how they are already in the market.

As you say, all we can do is sit back and watch what unfolds

Yes we are talking about the new model. But we already know that the current defender doesn't meet US Regs and won't meet upcoming EU Regs so old Defender can only be produced for Developing World countries who can not afford purchasing vehicles with UK labour costs. This is likely the reason for the Sri Lankan factory to continue some production where Defender continues to be legal.

On the new Defender replacement, there has been discussion for several years that the L660 will likely be on the Disco 4 or 5 platform but without the high tech features like EAS and possibly even with rear leaf suspension for the load carrying commercial models, not unlike the Nissan Patrol trayback.
With the reduced development support from Tata, my guess JLR have decided to invest what capital they have on the new alloy platform which will maximise load carrying, rather than spending money on a short term band aid solution to build the L660 on the current D4/RRS platform.

It won't be the first time Land Rover have left dealers without a Defender. It happened with the change over from SIII/Stage 1 to the 110 models, when Australian dealers were without supply for 18 months.