Interview with Gerry McGovern about the new Defender

[mwbrydon]

McGovern discusses the new Defender.Land Rover Defender replacement is coming, at last

Interesting bits:
» "I'll tell you one thing about that Defender, it's going to be nothing like those bloomin' concept cars we showed a few years go, because we took the Mick with those," he jested.
» "We've pushed Discovery closer to Range Rover, which will allow the Defenders to come in under that." i.e - We're going to make them all look the same and like every other 4x4/SUV in the market.

I don't hold out much hope for the new breed and McGovern worries me.

Note: Heard about this article in the Centre Steer Podcast - It's a great podcast and you should check it out! (I'm not associated with them.)

[blackrangie]

This article was already posted on Feb 23rd below, he is not really saying what you infer, he is just saying the Defender will in a way take the place somewhere between the current Defender and the current D4.. Because of this the moved the D5 closer to the RR

[Bytemrk]

That's kind of how I read it too Blackrangie..... maybe there is some wishful thinking there Time will tell.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

it is the 3rd pillar,, so some differences have to be expected,,(if not wanted!!)
but expect an ally subframe, expect air suspension, expect a current gearbox, expect the usual LR design clues, expect 5 doors, expect a cab chassis/ute/dual cab. (anything to get rid of the horrible/homogeneous Disco C pillar)

any photoshoppers out there put a tray on the back of a new RR for me?
Expect that.

[Pickles2]

It's still all waffle.
No-one, outside of the design team knows anything.
So, I'll just say one thing, I give JLR the prize for keeping "New" Defender absolutely secret,...100% for that!
Pickles.

[blackrangie]

it is the 3rd pillar,, so some differences have to be expected,,(if not wanted!!)
but expect an ally subframe, expect air suspension, expect a current gearbox, expect the usual LR design clues, expect 5 doors, expect a cab chassis/ute/dual cab. (anything to get rid of the horrible/homogeneous Disco C pillar)

any photoshoppers out there put a tray on the back of a new RR for me?
Expect that.

Few corrections, I would say option of air susp as previously discussed.
Current gearbox? You mean 8 or 9 speed auto? With manual option?

[loneranger]

It's still all waffle.
No-one, outside of the design team knows anything.
So, I'll just say one thing, I give JLR the prize for keeping "New" Defender absolutely secret,...100% for that!
Pickles.

And the best marketing campaign.

[blackrangie]

It's still all waffle.
No-one, outside of the design team knows anything.
So, I'll just say one thing, I give JLR the prize for keeping "New" Defender absolutely secret,...100% for that!
Pickles.

That's not true, a fair bit has been drip fed to the press as previously discussed on here, bar the actual shape and look of the Defender lots of the rest of the car has been talked about by LR..but yes good job keeping the look of it secret

[RobA]

Yep all conjecture and McGovern is doing a great job starting to push the interest levels up as they get closer to product release. Having a chat to a JRA guy I have know for a long time the only thing he said is that air suspension is definitely not on the cards for new Defender. That could also be misleading but it's the only thing I can get close to believing.

If you step back and look at the model line as it stands clearly and as they have already said, they are moving into 3 separate product groupings. RR for the high end luxury, new Discovery as the middle ground but more upmarket but less then RR and finally will come new Defender which will I hope continue to fill the void of a utilitarian but highly modern 4WD focussed on a high off road duty cycle. It will have to sell in volumes far higher than old Defender to make it pay so in my view you can expect a model range of at least three variants being; a ute/dual cab, a station wagon, possibly a SWB and probably a cab chassis. In all of that I would think you would see base, mid and high spec variants to suit the various buyer segments. One thing I am hoping for that is noticeably lacking with new Discovery, is a decent range of OE equipment from bars to winches etc.

Rob

[Pickles2]

Well, I reckon I've been on the lookout for clues about the "New" Defender as much as anyone, but IMHO, "I" know virtually nothing.
What I do know,...monocoque chassis, but even then nothing about the "specifics" of it.
Ingenium engines, yes, but which ones,...I don't know.
3 levels of specification, 3 door, 5door,....read all that, but again nothing specific.
Transmissions,..manual or auto,..probably both, but again nothing specific known.
final drive, brakes, wheels, suspension?....I know nothing.
Interior,...nothing.
Appearance?....nothing.
So that's me, I know nothing at all of any really accurate substance, and that's why I say, well AFAIAC anyway, I know virtually anything of an accurate, definite nature, and that is why I'm hanging out for the first REAL, OFFICIAL bit of info from JLR about the "New" Defender..
Pickles.