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Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3791 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Unnecessary quote removed
So,what are you saying???!!!...with respect to the future"Defender"? Cheers, Pickles. |
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jav-uk Member Since: 29 Mar 2010 Location: Shropshire Posts: 112 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Unnecessary quote removed
Without a new production facility LR will not be able to make a volume "World Car" replacement for the Defender that was originally floated when the DC100 concept was previewed. So the new Defender could end up being a "Niche" (marketing term for low volume, expensive, but hopefully very desirable ) vehicle. I would speculate D4 running gear, with new 2.0D hybrid engine from new Wolverhampton engine plant, 11 speed auto box, dressed in uber cool, alloy body, loads of cow on the inside, some sparkly lights in the roof lining and a ski rack on the roof. At the launch there will be lots of sexy marketing, Pic's of "The New Defender Evoque" pulling Jet Ski's off a dock and bikini clad girls using the built in back door shower facility. Every TV chef's wife or mistress will be driving one. They will make 80,000 a year, with a 9 month waiting list and sell the lot for equivalent of £40-50k. But, I hope we get a strong, UK built, all wheel drive with automatic transmission that I can throw my sh** in the back and has a decent warranty. For £20-30K With these recent press articles I don't think so... If I look into my crystal ball I think we are more likely to see a headline in two years..... "Tata forced to sell Range Rover to (Put your German company here)" But what do I know ![]() Pondering a New 90 Commercial 2020 Evoque * 2014 110 SW JE Stage 2. *2010 110 Utility. JE Stage 2. *2007 110 SW *2003 90 JE Stage 2. *2000 90 SW If its not leaking it ain't full. |
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Sockpuppet Member Since: 17 Sep 2011 Location: Leicester Posts: 479 ![]() ![]() |
Anyone up for a defender kit car
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spudfan Member Since: 10 Sep 2007 Location: Co Donegal Posts: 4768 ![]() ![]() |
What about matching the factory build quality? ![]() 1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali 2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu 2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai |
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megatoad Member Since: 07 Jan 2012 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 358 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Is it just me or does that look like a BMW Mini pickup truck from the side? He who dies with the most toys wins ![]() Defender 90 & 110, S1 80", Disco 1, S111 88 LRSOC & CVLRC |
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theorangebandit Member Since: 03 Jun 2013 Location: Stowmarket Posts: 862 ![]() |
I like that they've tried, but im most happy that I have my self one of the younger batch for the remainder of my life. my 110 aint going no where, so roll on the next 60 years where I can sell it as a dying breed to an enthusiast
the defender just isn't what millionaires wanna clunk and bang around in. |
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Setok Member Since: 16 Jan 2009 Location: Helsinki Posts: 422 ![]() ![]() |
I think we're seeing too much smoke for there not to be a fire. So it really does look like there will either be no Defender replacement, or one that uses my most hated word: 'premium'. "You can't compete against Toyota". Well, uh, bring out a nicer product that does the job, and you can. Really the only reason people buy Toyotas instead of Landies is the reputation for reliability, as many will agree a Defender looks better and has long performed better.
But it seems like we are going the way that many companies, especially British ones, have gone, to their eventual peril. Ie. prioritising beancounting over things like branding, customer loyalty and good engineering. Not understanding one's assets and how to use them. I absolutely do not want the Defender to stand still. But I often find that companies that forget their original values for quick profits lose out in the long run. The Defender, like the Wrangler, is a halo product. Get it exploring Africa, helping the UN in warzzones, and helping farmers to herd sheep, and it will lend a lot of credibility to every single product in the range. I recently heard the Finnish army was planning to buy a new set of Defenders, but postponed those plans because of the vehicle's uncertain future and the speculation around the DC100. Not a great situation to be in. |
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nidge n Member Since: 04 Feb 2012 Location: Cheshire Posts: 720 ![]() ![]() |
Interesting comments from John Edwards re defender in this article
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/ho...-boss.html |
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RobKeay Member Since: 19 Jul 2009 Location: Stafford Posts: 1593 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
That's better I like abuseabilty, after spending the day in a land crusier in morocco land rover need to hurry up. I have to say the land crusier is a awful car to sit and be driven in.
Not only this Moroccan drivers want a land rover but defenders are too expensive out here, they need to get a African ckd factory built quick time and a new defender built to rid Africa of dreadful 4x4. The comment the the driver said is the route used to be better with a defender and how much power the TD5 has. He loved TD5. |
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Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3791 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Very positive....but how long will it be before we hear some real FACTS about the "New" Defender?
Cheers, Pickles. |
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ZeDefender Member Since: 15 Sep 2011 Location: Munich Posts: 4731 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Not necessarily so. If you visit Starnberg (richest part of Germany) you'll change your mind. I can wave all day to lots of "well-heeled" types. They never mod them though - just keep them very shiny ![]() But shout it at them in German because life is also terrifying and confusing... |
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tacr2man Member Since: 02 Oct 2008 Location: J10 M40 Posts: 20 ![]() |
Whatever it is , it needs a decent diesel , read that as big powerful diesel , as that is what generally what sells toyota , reliability is item 2 . The defender always rode and drove better. JMHO
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Captain Speaking Member Since: 23 Jan 2012 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 159 ![]() ![]() |
Edwards is a singularly unconvincing auto exec - emotionless and hard. I have seen a few presentations from him and you have never heard such business-school speak; it's all "brand values" and "price points". These guys have no real passion for their brand (or if they do it is subsumed beneath their corporate 'personalities' and the need to fit in politically) and before you know it they have disappeared to Skoda or Harley Davidson or Proctor and Gamble.
Robots. Right, thank you for listening ![]() |
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Skye_Rover Member Since: 30 Aug 2013 Location: Skye Posts: 85 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The article might have well been written by Top Gear for all the relevance it is to this forum. It misses the point that LR is now returning the sort of profits that would support the investment needed to get this right. It cannot feign poverty forever...
Firstly, LR needs to be LR, not a load of guys and girls parachuted-in from Whitley (Jag), and it needs to get a few "old lags" to head-up the teams responsible for the individual areas of Engineering, with the bright, young staff working for them directly. That way you get a "bit of debate" going within the teams, some decent new ways of doing things, but tempered with a "reality check" of experience from the top. That means people who know how to use the Defender and its Series predecessors for an honest day's work out in the field/desert/quarry/anywhere in the world. LR, more than most companies, knows that if you want to pull 3.5tonnes legally in the UK, then you haven't got much choice as a fleet buyer. I know, because I am in the process of trying to find a bit of transport for the local Estate. Despite of protests from the drivers/operators that they want a Jap box, logic dictates that it has to be a Defender or nothing (the Estate is not made of money to buy Disco's or that ilk). I know why they don't want a Defender (features I have documented as being worthy of designing-out of the current product, and re-Engineering on a limited volume for a rural transport model), but work is work. That is why LR will keep the Defender as a workhorse, which done properly will secure it a future on the world stage. Even if the radio is ![]() |
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