More from McGovern--

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Originally Posted by Zeros

"Modern, Relevant, Compelling"...hmm

summed up really = Generic.

Modern = Retro

All new cars are modern in the sense that McGovern is using the word modern. But he's a leading designer, so he should know that modern has actually meant nothing since Modernism (late 1800's), originally from the German Bauhaus school of design, Modern design/style is actually very old.

Relevant = to what / whom?

Compelling = fashionable.
Not necessarily capable, durable or desirable.

...some measured words from the guv, sure. But his over riding principle = luxury = expensive, exclusive, That's not the Defender I know and love.

Capable, Durable, Practical.

Now that hat would be interesting to see in contemporary vehicle design.

The classic design of the current Defender is actually more Modern in terms of clean lines, straight edges and minimal form & function.

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I understood him to mean:
Modern - has all the modern stuff that people want in cars (Safety, comfort, convenience)
Relevant - does what people want the car to do (awesome off-road and darned good on road)
Compelling - I just want to buy a Land Rover above and beyond anything else on the market. Other cars may check more boxes, but I just want a green oval (which is where I'm at).

I think he'd fit 'capable, practical, and durable' under relevant. 'Desirable' would fit with compelling.

He specifically rejects 'generic' as he doesn't want to make a car that ticks all the boxes other manufacturers aim for.

Whether or not he can deliver on what he sets out to achieve is a different story.

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Originally Posted by carjunkieanon

I understood him to mean:
Modern - has all the modern stuff that people want in cars (Safety, comfort, convenience)
Relevant - does what people want the car to do (awesome off-road and darned good on road)
Compelling - I just want to buy a Land Rover above and beyond anything else on the market. Other cars may check more boxes, but I just want a green oval (which is where I'm at).

I think he'd fit 'capable, practical, and durable' under relevant. 'Desirable' would fit with compelling.

He specifically rejects 'generic' as he doesn't want to make a car that ticks all the boxes other manufacturers aim for.

Whether or not he can deliver on what he sets out to achieve is a different story.

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Except that all of that = generic, not modern.

His rejection of generic is just spin. You only have to look at the current generic line up of Land Rover models. The only difference is size. Like a set of babushka dolls.

Land Rover - more generic and less modern than ever.

Disco = Holden Captiva

Range Rover = Ford Explorer

...and I strongly suspect Defender will = the most generic of all volume sellers: Ford Ranger.

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Originally Posted by Zeros

...and I strongly suspect Defender will = the most generic of all volume sellers: Ford Ranger.

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Now that would be depressing :(

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Originally Posted by carjunkieanon

Now that would be depressing :(

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Could be worse, could be as generic as a hilux.

I really really hope not. But all the signs are there in McGoverns rhetoric.

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Originally Posted by Zeros

I really really hope not. But all the signs are there in McGoverns rhetoric.

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While I don't generally like much of what McGovern says, I have to disagree with your interpretation of what he's saying.
Yes I do think he's clutching at straws a bit (and getting into the design minutiae) when he says the current models don't look alike, but it seems to me that he wants LR products to stand out from the crowd and not be the same as everything else.
Whether you or I like the look of them or not, i think it's a distinctive look, that's not like other 4wds and you can't really argue with his claims about the performance of the products!

I think what McGovern has done with the company has helped it have massive increase in sales,so they will head in that direction for many years to come.He will be sticking around for a long time yet.

Good luck to them,they have to compete in the market place.

But as quickly as they lose some customers,others will be there to fill the holes.

Thats just a part of life.

My D4 will need replacing shortly,but LR don't have a vehicle for my needs,so i will have to move off to a different brand.

What we now refer to as the Series morphed into the Defender with relatively minimal changes to appearance, and indeed a reasonable amount of commonality. Non LR people struggle to pick the differences between a Series 1 and a MY17 Defo unless they are parked together (yeah... I know). Extraordinary for a production run of nearly 70 years. Against that we are judging a new Defender that will probably have zero carryover parts or styling and be based on a cutting edge platform forged in the last decade. I think there's little doubt it will be radically different to anything we currently think of as a Defender. It'll be thoroughly modern and contemporary in the way it looks and behaves. How LR acheive the balance between the historical functionality and capability and this will be the interesting part. It'll be like the changes from D4 to D5... times a hundred. I really, really also hope he doesn't **** this up (and I hope the filter catches that). We all know that this is an all new vehicle based on the D4u platform which is aluminum unitary and not body-on-frame for the first time ever. I hope there's enough of the old character and most of the old functionality in the new one in a more comfortable and accessible package. I read McGovern's comments that this is what they were trying to acheive, and have. I personally have my concerns, mainly because this is such a monumental task, but I'm hopeful he's right. If they nail it, I may just be looking at my first brand new LR purchase ever. IF...
Interesting times indeed...

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Originally Posted by scarry

My D4 will need replacing shortly,but LR don't have a vehicle for my needs,so i will have to move off to a different brand.

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Exactly my point. The focus has shifted from practical to luxury. Yes new customers will value this. But I don't.

Land Rover began as a concept that would defy categories. Now it's conforming to the categories it once defied.

Land-Rover has been moving away from the work horse vehicle since the seventies. You only need to look at where they have invested their research funds and the vehicles this has produced. There has been no/minimal investment in the work horse type vehicle they built their name on. They have gone where the volume market is and that is city drivers who want to think they are driving the halo Defender just more comfortable/practical. If they had not done this they would have died a long time ago.

In Australia you see so many Toyota 4x4 you think the world outside is the same. Reality is even Toyota sells so few ‘proper’ 4x4 they have stopped investing some years ago and the product is going to be cut. They too do not sell that many. Holden Commodore outsold the Landcruiser in the USA by a margin.