Thread: Won’t be retro...

JLR to build new Land Rover Defender in Slovakia - BBC News

BBC confirms slovakia

Originally Posted by Gregz

yes,... I'm sure the snow would be less than a few weeks old.

Cooler vents have shrunk again, looks like Lucky 8 were right

Originally Posted by ozscott

For what it's worth Blackrangie the comments on this now very large thread have been pretty good, even tempered and entertaining. IMHO your comments often are or border on fanboyish about LR generally and the new Defender so you and LR will get critics here (ie critics of some of your posts and critics of LR and what they are up to). Having said that you are spending time trawling around and posting pics, videos and info about the new Defender so credit to you for keeping things interesting and I don't mind admitting that your enthusiasm is infectious at times.

But at the end of the day most people like to keep it real and I can see why an overly techie Apple iwatch style approach to the new Defender under the misty eyed gaze of a flamboyant CEO wearing designer pinkery isn't going to do it for a lot of people on this site and they comment accordingly. If we .cant criticise a company that we know so well and who so deserves a few serves without being 'called' on it or having a long post with links to LR marketing propaganda there is something wrong.

I still think it is likely the new Defender will be a good thing but some cynicism is to be expected and even applauded. We dont want to be a county that is star struck like the US.

Cheers

'Star struck like the US'? What's that supposed to mean?

Originally Posted by grey_ghost

It’s interesting - spending time in America and Canada, so far I have seen one Defender. ONE. And that was in a car lot....

LR have said that one of their target audiences is America.

Which I find interesting, as from what I have seen so far, the yanks don’t know a lot about Defenders...

I have seen plenty of LR4’s, D5’s, Evoques and many Range Rovers.

I am eagerly anticipating what LR comes up with.

I certainly don’t think that it will be a work horse.

Everything that I have seen so far indicates a better D4...

Anyways - I can’t wait to see the finished product.

Well, maybe some of us are exceptions then. There are many LR clubs all around the US with any number of series, defender, discovery and other models with plenty of knowledge to go around. I have two Perenties and a County, all with 4BD1's and turbos which do tend to 'confuse and amuse' the standard LR fan in the States but in a good way; most are confused watching a 110 keep up with interstate speeds here as most of the other vintage models run the 2.25 or 2.5. There are of course tdi's and td5's running around as well.....general population may not seem to know the differences but its still amusing to see heads turn as any one of us goes down the road in one, rhd or lhd, regardless.

Originally Posted by goingbush

Likewise I spent 6 months in USA and saw ONE LandRover, an 83-84 Ninety (ID'd by the series style door handles)

Defenders were only imported into USA until 1993 , And they only started making them from 1990 , so you have to be lucky to find one.

99.9% of Americans have no idea what a Defender is , JLR banking on USA customers to snap up its new Defender is wishful thinking. Americans wan't Electric Cars or Big "PickUps"

3 years mate. There were three years where they were imported. The North American editions are a bit of a rare bird, agreed.

Originally Posted by tc_s1

'Star struck like the US'? What's that supposed to mean?

Look at the difference between what the majority of the US think about their presidents and other pollies versus the Australian approach. I prefer a slightly more cynical/critical/suspicious approach to leaders and other public figures than wide eyed adoration based on the office held or the public veneer of a person...once they prove themselves then fine. Tall poppy syndrome I don't like but somewhere between that and the US approach seems right. Personal opinion. No offence to US citizens intended.

Cheers

Originally Posted by ozscott

Look at the difference between what the majority of the US think about their presidents and other pollies versus the Australian approach. I prefer a slightly more cynical/critical/suspicious approach to leaders and other public figures than wide eyed adoration based on the office held or the public veneer of a person...once they prove themselves then fine. Tall poppy syndrome I don't like but somewhere between that and the US approach seems right. Personal opinion. No offence to US citizens intended.

Cheers

Thanks. That clarification makes sense from your perspective. In the States however there is preciously little love for any pollies of any persuasion much of the time. The younger generations may disregard, but it took our generations to disrespect these positions, dragging them down to a point where many respectable and capable citizens have no interest in serving public office......which ironically (?) is needed in order to lift offices back to positions of respect. The entire world seems entranced with personal star power, social media 'influencers' and form over function at times - indeed much of the 233 odd pages of this thread seems dedicated to speculation regarding that very form vs function argument, with the 'star' being our collective hopes that somehow the bureacrats in Solihull have lost the battle and the modern purists will pull out a victory for all of us fans. We shall see soon enough. Thank you for your clarification mate.

Originally Posted by blackrangie

GB Im sure you would not like someone to say that about all the effort you have put into yours I would bet hundreds of thousands of man hours have gone into this car so far, if not millions including testing hours.

This thread is full of opinion and speculation, including by plenty of motoring journos. If members can’t express a polite dissenting opinion here then what’s the point.

Significant investment doesn’t always deliver a great result. I’m sure JLR will get over it, as there will a heap of other people with the same opinion.

What JLR is really interested in is the people with an opposite opinion who are willing to shell out $80k plus for one.