The New Defender

This is the key point and core to many Defender fans frustrations:

“I’m supremely disappointed they have not released a Ute which to the majority of fanbois who are replacing their D3/4 is not a problem BUT what about those that still want a LR but now have a choice of 13 different luxury wagons.”

I agree. Defender used to primarily be a work vehicle. Now it looks to primarily be an upmarket adventure vehicle, like all other Land Rover models.

It is very disappointing there is no obvious commercial variant, although they say one is coming, it’s still a wagon only ...and not a ute as yet and not a 130 either.

In reality Land Rover abandoned the commercial vehicle sector a long time ago, with no real design changes to Defender for so long. No airbags made the Defender non compliant for work sites for years anyway.

A new Defender ute could have done better than the VW Amarok (which is currently the best new ute on the market IMO).

oh well, them’s the yuppie Pom Mayfair high street designers priorities.

Who knows the new Defender might turn out to be tough as old boots after all. And a ute might be yet be on its way...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rob66

Happy to put up some pix .. 2 questions:
1, can I upload more than one at a time?
2, mine seem to be thumbnail sized - how do you load full size?

---

Use tapatalk, 9 at a time

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SpudHeadTed

This is the key point and core to many Defender fans frustrations:

“I’m supremely disappointed they have not released a Ute which to the majority of fanbois who are replacing their D3/4 is not a problem BUT what about those that still want a LR but now have a choice of 13 different luxury wagons.”

I agree. Defender used to primarily be a work vehicle. Now it looks to primarily be an upmarket adventure vehicle, like all other Land Rover models.

It is very disappointing there is no obvious commercial variant, although they say one is coming, it’s still a wagon only ...and not a ute as yet and not a 130 either.

In reality Land Rover abandoned the commercial vehicle sector a long time ago, with no real design changes to Defender for so long. No airbags made the Defender non compliant for work sites for years anyway.

A new Defender ute could have done better than the VW Amarok (which is currently the best new ute on the market IMO).

oh well, them’s the yuppie Pom Mayfair high street designers priorities.

Who knows the new Defender might turn out to be tough as old boots after all. And a ute might be yet be on its way...

---

That's a subjective statement about the V Dub but otherwise I agree they have missed an opportunity with the Ute. I am really enjoying having a utility again. There are many things you just can beat them for including huge space. The ute market here and the US just keeps getting bigger. If LR did a ute and the new Defender improved on the reputation has for lack of reliability (and the reputation amongst the masses is not good) then it could do very well. I would like to see that. Given the size of the 110 it looks like only the 130 ute in dual cab would have any real tray. Cheers

Cheers

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DiscoDB

The 130 is said to have the same wheelbase as the 110 but it is just the rear section from behind the C pillar and 2nd row of seats extended by 342mm and seating for 8 and will be an upspec premium vehicle.

I assume this is when they will also introduce the D300 option for hopefully both the 110 and 130.

What will be interesting is to see if the D300 is the current 3L twin-turbo diesel V6 or if they will extend the Ingenium range to include a 3L inline 6 cyl twin-turbo diesel. To be truly modular and simplifying parts across the defender range it should be the latter.

---

I think from all the pre-release information it is clear the V6 diesel will be replaced by the ingenium in line 6 diesel. It is happening now with D5 orders for 2020 with buyers being told they may have their order filled with either depending on production

Rob

Yesterday, while camped north of Cooktown, some people from Melbourne asked for permission to photograph our 110 because "it's a real 4WD" and "they don't make them any more." Will anyone say that about the new Defender?
Actually it's behaving like a real Land Rover at the moment with an oil leak from the gasket on the vacuum pump, but I didn't tell them that. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...baa3aa7bb7.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ozscott

That's a subjective statement about the V Dub

Cheers

---

Correct. Your views are subjective too. Its all subjective, that’s the whole point of a discussion. If everyone had the same point of view there would be no discussion. [thumbsupbig]
Cheers

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SpudHeadTed

Correct. Your views are subjective too. Its all subjective, that’s the whole point of a discussion. If everyone had the same point of view there would be no discussion. [thumbsupbig]
Cheers

---

Agreed.

Cheers

What were the people from Melbourne driving?

I totally understand the disappointment in the lack of a ute option and am also a little sad that the Defender is no longer a work vehicle.

Realistically though, how could a small volume manufacturer like JLR build enough vehicles to make the commercial market profitable? Gearing up production to the extent required (probably 10 times what they build now) on the back of a single model would be a recipe for disaster. Even if it weren’t, where would they get the capital required for such a rapid expansion?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jon3950

I totally understand the disappointment in the lack of a ute option and am also a little sad that the Defender is no longer a work vehicle.

Realistically though, how could a small volume manufacturer like JLR build enough vehicles to make the commercial market profitable? Gearing up production to the extent required (probably 10 times what they build now) on the back of a single model would be a recipe for disaster. Even if it weren’t, where would they get the capital required for such a rapid expansion?

---

"Realistically though, how could a small volume manufacturer like JLR build enough vehicles to make the commercial market profitable?"

I think they could do it. The problem I now keep coming back to is the price.
Even this morning the new defender was posted on the y62 forum. It got a lot of positive feedback (with the obvious moron commenting also) until someone mentioned it would be over $120k for a reasonably kitted 110 then it was instantly discarded by most at that price point. This vehcile needed to be delivered under $100k with reasonable kit standard. This is the very point I've been banging on about, the vehcile looks great and ticks lots of boxes but the price is going to let it down.
The other major concern is the warranty. Everyone is offering 5-7 year warranties these days, LR calls this "The toughest vehicle they've ever made" yet can't provide a standard 5 year warranty. All this is going to do is fuel the negative perception of LR amongst the haters.