Anyone got any idea of the new 2012 Defender?
Is it like the '90' in my avatar?
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my other car is a java D3

i hope not.... it's going to be a cold day in hell when LR finally abandon their heritage and move to the new one

Surely with the SUV market as saturated as it is there is still a healthy niche for a "utility" 4WD. 25,000 vehicles a year is nothing to sneeze at so I would hope Land Rover see fit to continue with the current truck-type platform.

Last edited by solmanic on 1st Sep 2008 11:01pm. Edited 1 time in total

I'd like to think you're right - but the problems with the US market for the current Defender is always going to put the case for a major re-design.

I'm with the school of keeping a utility type model though.

What I don't understand is why Land Rover haven't managed to retro-fit some sort of airbag into the Defender. Without knowing the first thing about the mechanics of it, I just find it hard to believe that in a truck the size of a Defender this has been impossible to date.

How do other, larger, rigid-chassis trucks get by?
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2007 Defender 110
1970 Alfa Romeo 1750GTV

I think its mainly because of the amount of re-engineering that would be needed to the bulkhead, just not possible IIRC.

Apart from the deceleration forces on the chassis, distance from steering wheel to A-Pillar and to the driver is part of the problem. In the likes of the L200 and other utility pick-up (I refer to the old model, not the heap of curves and toothpaste they are now selling) you sit a reasonable distance from the wheel. Not possible in a single-cab (although less of a problem in a utility, SW or doublecab). Ditto the distance from the wheel to the a-pillar and side window. You'd end up with a broken wrist and burns when the airbag went off and in a single-cab would have your face pushed through the back of your head. Neither of these are conducive to passing federal crash tests.
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Carbon footprint? I neither know nor give a

I believe in karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long safe in the knowledge that they probably deserve it
Disco3 TDV6SE and Defender 90 County Pickup

Have you seen the report on the Autocar website. See the following link:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/227752/

Well

I think one of the biggest problems that the Defender faces is the new EU requirements refered to the pedestrians friendliness that should be pass in the 2010-2012 if I remember well. As far as I know the Defender doesnt pass it.

Others main points are the Air bags at least for the US market and the safety related to rolling that is an issue not solved yet.

On the other hand the cost of manufacturing a "hand made" car leaves not too much room for profits like in the modern computarized system were a lot of vehicles can be build with almost 0 error and with a fraction of the labour cost that the Defender represents. They are making money with it, but not enough to completely redesign the model keeping the rough style of the Defender.

So, LR have limited resources and the new LRX concept almost drain all the R&D budget and I think that they do not have the capacity to make an all-new Defender in special if they sell only 25,000 per year.

In a tight SUV market the new defender must reach a better share market, if not a new development will not paid. That means several modification to make the model more "friendly" with an obvious compromise of the versality and the off-road capacity.

Its a pitty, but its the market.


regards
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Eduardo

110 SW PUMA 2.4

Eduardo wrote:

So, LR have limited resources and the new LRX concept almost drain all the R&D budget and I think that they do not have the capacity to make an all-new Defender in special if they sell only 25,000 per year.

In a tight SUV market the new defender must reach a better share market, if not a new development will not paid. That means several modification to make the model more "friendly" with an obvious compromise of the versality and the off-road capacity.

Its a pitty, but its the market.


regards

mse wrote:

Eduardo wrote:

So, LR have limited resources and the new LRX concept almost drain all the R&D budget and I think that they do not have the capacity to make an all-new Defender in special if they sell only 25,000 per year.

In a tight SUV market the new defender must reach a better share market, if not a new development will not paid. That means several modification to make the model more "friendly" with an obvious compromise of the versality and the off-road capacity.

Its a pitty, but its the market.


regards

Im sorry mate thats just rubbish.

1st (having been round the R&D centre) and know people involved there funding etc is not an issue.

2nd the defender volumes are good - profit is always tight but not a worry in terms of development

3rd they have been since the close of the last working on it

4th the defender proves the other models, holds the brands and sells (a lot)

so dont worry

Im sorry your really wrong on this.

It would be wrong for me to reviel that much.

Track wise is not an issue. R&D budgets and facilities is not an issue (if you havent seen what they have at gaydon then you will be surprise...hence it is widely recognised as the best R&D facilities)

All the money doesnt and never is on 1 line - they have many redesigns running.
Range Rover, LRX, Defender, next Discovery new product and have been running the new defender for a while.

I actually think your wrong on production of defender figures - i seem to recall it is a lot higher than this and that they won a contract for the new defender for that figure. I can easliy find this out.

LRJ are not a toy company.
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Mike
2.4TDCi 90CWS XS
300TDi Discovery

mse wrote:

Im sorry your really wrong on this.

It would be wrong for me to reviel that much.

Track wise is not an issue. R&D budgets and facilities is not an issue (if you havent seen what they have at gaydon then you will be surprise...hence it is widely recognised as the best R&D facilities)

All the money doesnt and never is on 1 line - they have many redesigns running.
Range Rover, LRX, Defender, next Discovery new product and have been running the new defender for a while.

I actually think your wrong on production of defender figures - i seem to recall it is a lot higher than this and that they won a contract for the new defender for that figure. I can easliy find this out.

LRJ are not a toy company.

I am right - not only because ive seen it - but because its no secret - there was even an article in LRO a few months back.

There is huge amounts that go into R&D and if you look back in history you will see R&D spending when LR were part of Rover Group and Leyland werent great and still they produced.

Remember LR is not a company on its own its part of LRJ now which is a division of Tata - before it was part of the PAG group of ford.

One thing i have already said is the future defender will not be like this one - it has already been given 3 yrs life only.
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Mike
2.4TDCi 90CWS XS
300TDi Discovery

mse wrote:

I am right - not only because ive seen it - but because its no secret - there was even an article in LRO a few months back.

There is huge amounts that go into R&D and if you look back in history you will see R&D spending when LR were part of Rover Group and Leyland werent great and still they produced.

Remember LR is not a company on its own its part of LRJ now which is a division of Tata - before it was part of the PAG group of ford.

One thing i have already said is the future defender will not be like this one - it has already been given 3 yrs life only.