The defender isn't pin up material either [bigwhistle]
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I recon the opposite,looking at the current crop of LR products,a well optioned Defender is the best looker of them all.
The next best is probably a well optioned D2a.
The look of some of those later model vehicles,particularly from the rear is horrid.
Just my 2 cents worth,if we were all thought the same,the place would be boring.......[biggrin]
Release pre-production photos now, and there's going to be a Chinese knock-off on the showroom floors before you know it!
In today's world, I think it speaks volumes for their in-house attitude that there hasn't been any leaked images! How much do you think someone would be offering LR workers for a sneak preview?
I think that it will lose the Defenders distinctive identity and just blend into the multitude of SUVs already on the road. Neither does it look like it will have the inside/bare bones storage capacity and capability of the current Defender.
Being vastly different from everything else on the road has been a Defenders strength. Losing that uniqueness may very well affect the desirability factor and so cost it sales.
But then what do I know.....I go against the crowd in that I reckon the just superseded Mahindra Pik-up looks fantastic and has that desirable 'X' factor - something which car makers strive to achieve.
JLR are a lost cause.
Currently they have a fleet of waggons that all look pretty much the same. What a joke. How many different models do soccer mums need to choose between?
I don't mind the look of them to be honest. They are nice modern SUVs but it's seriously getting a bit ridiculous. It must get to a point where reusing the same designs/tooling/whatever else they are too broke to invest in actually leads to losing more money.
If the defender just turns into another clone of one of them, well more incentive to keep my 110! Lucky it's in the shop being restored!
I just can't understand how Jeep can modernise the Wrangler, Toyota can modernise the Landcruiser, just about every 4x4 has been modernised while retaining some essence of its original character but JLR can't do it with the defender?
JLR aren't 'modernising' anything.
they are building a completely new vehicle.
the vehicles you mentioned are all really old conventially designed vehicles.
they will not be able to match Land Rover when the Defender will be released, possibly not for a generation.
now, stop whingeing , be patient and wait.
JLR has more money now, than it ever had - thanks to those same "nice modern SUVs". Without the cash-flow from them, Defender would be dead and buried.
Personally, I'd like to see a D4 with a lot of the fruit removed, and a manual gearbox, available as either a wagon, a trayback ute, or a dual-cab, in standard and long wheelbase variants. [biggrin][biggrin]
JLR is maximising the number of models it produces using standardised components, which is logical.
The new Defender is to use an aluminum Range Rover platform and existing engines.
It won't be the same as past Defenders, but I expect it to be an excellent vehicle.
That's life in the world of globalised manufacturing.