Thread: advantages of a 110 over a rover or disco

Originally Posted by gusthedog

Australia's conditions are unique and the market too small to change the direction of any 4wd manufacturer. LR are obviously marketing themselves as a luxury only brand into the future. There probably just isn't enough $ to be made selling cheaper utilitarian vehicles anymore when you are competing with cheaper Asian products. Any new LR model will be a luxo- barge. Even the new version of your much lauded defender.

Australian conditions are not different,deserts,bush etc are the same everywhere you go,the only difference is Australians themselves,the reason the outback has a reputation as a vehicle breaker is because dumbass Australians buy a 4wd,roll it in a pile of ARB extra's making it look mucho,in the process taking it to it's GVM,load it with more crap they never use which takes it way over it's GVM and wobble off out west and are supprised when it's wheels fall off.When the defender replacement arrives many of you will be eating crow . Pat

Originally Posted by MrLandy

Thank you Gusthedog. Exactly my point.

This is counter the origin of the brand. Very disappointing and I'm flabbergasted how few AULRO members are outraged by this.

I sincerely hope the ever optimistic Pat is right, but I fear not. ...so all hail Toyota in the future bush I suppose ....and all hail old Landies!!

Outraged over what?,this was the exact response when we changed from the leaf spring series to the coil spring 110,same when we went to the ''L'' series RR's from the classic,ditto the D2 to D3-4 the list goes on,the only thing disappointing is the way Land Rover owners carry on like princesses over change,me being optimistic?,no way,sad that the door is closing on the last link to the original series one yes but excited over a new one opening built on the series,110,Defender legacy. Pat

Originally Posted by 85 county

advantages of a 110 over a rover or disco


Bonnet is a better platform for changing nappies

I would have thought that the Land Rover engineers , would have used the Discovery platform as the basis of the new Defender . Use the front to behind the driving seats . Then from there , go Ute , or duel cab , tray or tub back . The thing is all the R&D has been done , plus engines choices . I think the look of the Discovery 4 is very modern , It could be dumbed do , so not to have as many electrics , or have burger with the lot . As for changing Nappies , by the time It comes out , a lot of members will be wearing them !!.. Jim

I might be wrong with a few of my figures here but LR sell around 500,000 vehicles a year. In their best years only 20,000 defenders were sold world wide. What do you think their biggest selling model is? It's the freelander. Not the hardcore off road enthusiast 4wd but a soft roader. Because that's where the $ are. Why put any R&D or new models into a shrinking segment? They're not rushing out with a new defender because that's not where the money's at. It's in soft roader's and luxo-barges. How many D4's ever see dirt worldwide?

I agree it's **** but money pays. They can still sell their off road cred of old without actually having a robust off road model for years into the future. So why bother?

Originally Posted by PAT303

Australian conditions are not different,deserts,bush etc are the same everywhere you go,the only difference is Australians themselves,the reason the outback has a reputation as a vehicle breaker is because dumbass Australians buy a 4wd,roll it in a pile of ARB extra's making it look mucho,in the process taking it to it's GVM,load it with more crap they never use which takes it way over it's GVM and wobble off out west and are supprised when it's wheels fall off.When the defender replacement arrives many of you will be eating crow . Pat

I agree that too many spend too much on accessories and overload vehicles. But Australia still has the most remote four wheel driving of any 1st world country. Ever noticed that there isn't a market for long range fuel tanks anywhere other than here? A while ago I met an English fellow that had used a defender right around the world. The only time he needed a long range tank was when he brought his car here. Nowhere else had the same massive distances between fuel. Not in Africa, nor Asia Europe or north America.

I've been to more remote parts of Oz than your average joe and my TDCi is the only Land Rover I've ever owned with a second fuel tank,Oz made plastic jerry cans are $20 each . Pat

Originally Posted by gusthedog

I might be wrong with a few of my figures here but LR sell around 500,000 vehicles a year. In their best years only 20,000 defenders were sold world wide. <snip>

Purely because that was the maximum capacity of the plant, the buggers are handmade !

It's almost uneconomic to build them, they are so labour intensive.

Well now you're just contradicting yourself gusthedog! It can't be both a shrinking market and the biggest long range heavy duty 4WD market in the first world.

The reason Defender sales were relatively low is not just lack of production capability of a hand made vehicle; it's because Land Rover totally dropped the ball in the 80's in terms of fixing reliability issues, terrible customer service in the outback and NOT expanding their heavy duty range. While Toyota had three heavy duty models 60 series, 70 series traybacks & troopie and Hilux, all with class leading attention to reliability and customer service.

Land Rover retreated to the city and not just in Australia.