LR are supposedly looking at a new 2-door Rangie.
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LR are supposedly looking at a new 2-door Rangie.
Good point, my mistake, - even better if it's April.Quote:
Originally Posted by JDNSW
Did anyone see the pictures from the Land Rover presentation at the LA Motor Show? The ‘three pillars’ of the brand were discussed with accompanying graphics:
We've taken a wrong turn
Ignore the description on the hyperlink.
Anyway, the Defender graphic gives me hope that it will be a pretty good looking car, although I suspect it will have a Range Rover-y nose on it. That said, looks alone won’t be enough if it’s just a cut-down RR Sport underneath.
I was speaking to a Tata dealer principal yesterday. He said that he had been flown out to India to preview a new Tata ute - based off a Discovery Sport.. “It looked like a Disco at the front, with the arse chopped off for the ute”......
DS is monocoque so they may use a TATA ute chassis under it, it would be ugly i think.Quote:
Originally Posted by grey_ghost
A D4 cab would make a much nicer vehicle.
India seems to love ugly cars. They should make a motza.
Autocar has done some mockups based on the mule: Land Rover Defender to be reinvented for 2019 | Autocar
I've been told it has round headlights. I trust my source.
“We have to stop thinking about function in a durable way,” McGovern told Autocar at the Frankfurt show. “When you’re buying into the brand, you’re buying a premium product.”
That McGovern is a right nob end....
Gerry McGovern certainly seems to have a single-minded focus on selling crossovers and light-duty four wheel drives, loaded with bling and gadgetry, to the wealthier individuals in society. He’ll happily trade on the Series/Defender heritage, but not come up with a fitting replacement.
It actually amazes me that LR has sat on its hands for years, instead of just getting on with the job of designing a replacement for THE Land Rover. I’d love to hear the thought processes involved.
I mean, Defenders already sold to people who didn’t need one based on their image. The Benz G Wagen also sold on its image, despite being fairly agricultural, though Benz realised this sooner and offered more powerful, luxurious versions. What I’m saying is that the Defender replacement didn’t need to be super-high tech and have some sort of modern monocoque aluminium construction. If it were a sufficiently modern body-on-frame wagon or ute with rugged styling, decent engines, the option of luxurious trim and an auto for those who are so inclined, it would be an instant success. The image was already there to sell to non-traditional buyers.
The other aspect that I can’t figure out is that when you’re going to re-enter the US market with your new model, why would you take another Disco/RR variant soft-roader and try to sell it as a Defender - a formerly desirable forbidden fruit? The response is likely to be “meh”. Americans love rugged trucks and pickups, so if you were to deliver a proper BOF truck you should be onto a winner. If you can offer a genuinely capable Jeep Wrangler alternative, then even better (incidentally, the new Wrangler shows how this should be getting done). Gerry McGovern loves to talk about sales figures, well there’s a lot of new sales right there.
If they could sort out their dealer network, they could probably shift a fair few more out here in Australia too. If the new Defender were an actual LandCruiser or Patrol alternative, they could sell to farmers and maybe mining companies and it wasn’t even that long ago that Telstra, power companies, fire authorities and police forces in Australia were running Defenders.
Sadly, it sounds like it’s all too late.