 | Home > General & Technical (L663) > Replacement for defender - a little bit more news |
 
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| Cheshire110 Member Since: 26 Jul 2013 Location: Cheshire/London Posts: 2724  
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Land rover have been flaunting the DC100 concept at the Dheli Auto Expo, after 2 years of ignoring/leaving it..
also.. The replacement for the Defender will be ‘desirable’, ‘more sophisticated’ and ‘traditionalists might not like it’ – so says Land Rover’s design chief Gerry McGovern. - http://www.lro.com/news-reviews/2014/2/lan...er-debate/ Cheers, David Land Rovers of all shapes S3 onwards… Daily is a 110 V8. |
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5th Feb 2014 10:24pm |
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| What puddle? Member Since: 25 Oct 2013 Location: Reading Posts: 952
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I seem to be in a minority in liking the DC100 very much.
I get the impression that the Defender is an embarrassment to LR, bit like a posh family feels about one its own who ended up going to a Comprehensive and marrying a plumber. I've been reading a lot this week on people's thoughts about any new Defender, and came away with the impression that LR won't actually do it - it just wouldn't suit their new upmarket image. I hope I'm wrong, and that what I said before about there being TWO small LR 4x4s (a lifestyle one and one you can hose out) is right. Now left. |
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6th Feb 2014 12:04pm |
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| 22900013A Member Since: 23 Dec 2010 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 3140 
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I think you are right What puddle?
I think that the Defender as we know and understand it will die, to be replaced with a lifestyle vehicle. I also don't understand why the replacement needs to be small, a 110 or 130 cannot be considered small? Whatever the replacement is, for it to make any sense it must have at least two if not three wheelbase options. As this doesn't fit well with the shared platform idea, I suspect it will be a single wheelbase model of about 100" or so, so the market taken by the 110 and 130 (ie utilities, military etc) will be disregarded. 2011 110 USW 1973 Series III 1-Ton 1972 Series III 1-Ton Cherrypicker 1969 IIA 1-Ton 1966 IIA 88" |
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6th Feb 2014 9:26pm |
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| Setok Member Since: 16 Jan 2009 Location: Helsinki Posts: 415 
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I thought they had pulled back a bit on this nonsense, but apparently that was just smoke and mirrors.
"A Defender doesn't have to look overtly functional. We are taking a more sophisticated approach." Eh... nope. How can someone understand the Defender and its appeal so wrong? There's a whole generation out there that love retro and vintage, and the lack of flashy silliness. People smile at the Defender and come and talk about it. Many would love to get one if they could afford it, and it was updated a bit in ergonomics and niggles. The funniest is many people don't even realise LR still makes them, because LR really does  all to promote it.
(Edited to say: What's with this forum censoring very mild profanities...??) |
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6th Feb 2014 9:26pm |
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| What puddle? Member Since: 25 Oct 2013 Location: Reading Posts: 952
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LR playing games with spy photographers, or are LR really testing yet another mid-sized SUV???
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/spyshots...78356.html This one appears to be Freelander-sized, but we know for certain that the Freelander is being dropped, and that a smaller Discovery 'B' (larger than Evoque) is taking its place. We've even seen the shape from other spy photos. Or is this the actual new Disco B, and the other photos show disguised mules? It's a puffed-out Evoque rear, isn't it? Oh, I'm confused. Now left. |
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12th Mar 2014 9:25am |
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| 22900013A Member Since: 23 Dec 2010 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 3140
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Fair play to those who like them but all these new lifestyle 4x4s all look the same to me. I saw what I thought was a Range Rover of some kind the other day and it turned out to be an imported ford! It even had the same shape headlights as that vehicle in the spy shots. 2011 110 USW
1973 Series III 1-Ton 1972 Series III 1-Ton Cherrypicker 1969 IIA 1-Ton 1966 IIA 88" |
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12th Mar 2014 9:35am |
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| Interlet Member Since: 10 Oct 2011 Location: Norwich Posts: 461 
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Think I know the chap driving that vehicle, but he won't tell me anything either
 1998 110 300Tdi White Hard Top |
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12th Mar 2014 10:13am |
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| Limey Member Since: 18 Oct 2013 Location: Northern Italy Posts: 193 
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This worries me on a couple of levels. Firstly if there are no Defenders on the market for a year or two, then any military/civilian fleet buyers will be forced to buy from other brands, and once they've started that it may be very hard to reverse it. For me, the fact that Defenders are driven the world over, for various official uses (Army/Navy/Air Force/SAS/Coastguard/Mountain Rescue/Police/Ambulance/United Nations, let alone: safari tour use, snowploughs, expeditions etc. etc.) is a major feather in Land Rover's cap, and it is something that the other 4x4 brands are very jealous of.
Secondly, the fact that Gerry McGovern appears to be in charge of the Defender replacement. I just cannot see how the man who designed the MG-F (for me it's design was just a piece of silly putty that got dropped on the floor; apologies to anybody who likes them) is ever going to really understand the worldwide appeal of the oddball Defender. And when he is already saying things like "the traditionalists won't like this, but they'll have to live with it" then that sounds a lot like an admission that he doesn't care about the traditionalists. But is there anybody but a traditionalist who buys a Defender? I know that he also designed the Freelander. But the Defender is black & white different from a Freelander. The Defender is so much more than just another SUV, but it sounds like he plans on steering Land Rover into making just another SUV, but don't they make enough of those already? I know people here in Italy who drive a Range Rover, but who love the Defender, and the fact that Defenders are used by their Polizia/Carabinieri/Army makes their Range Rover more authentic and therefore appealing -due to the shared DNA. I've got this horrible feeling that this will end up being another historical episode, where a British manufacturer doesn't fully appreciate what their core appeal is, and they completely blow it. Last edited by Limey on 12th Mar 2014 12:51pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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12th Mar 2014 10:22am |
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| dnorrishill Member Since: 15 Jul 2011 Location: Hampshire Posts: 610  
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Guess its a bit like the original MG...
Leyland (or who ever they were at the time) stopped producing the MG, Mazda steps in with the MX5 and when Rover want to re-start MG they have to go down the MGF route as someone else has occupied their place in the market. Not sure there are many Defender military sales now anyway, but I do believe that many commercial Defender buyers will be looking at Rangers, Hilux, Navara, etc. Hell lets face it Gary at Alive made a Facebook post the other day of a Ford Ranger he is working his magic on. |
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12th Mar 2014 10:56am |
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| Limey Member Since: 18 Oct 2013 Location: Northern Italy Posts: 193
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As a 'traditionalist' I love the original MG's!
You're probably right about there not being much in the way of Military sales, and I suspect that's the way that the suits in Solihull look at it. But I think that the amount of brand awareness that those type of sales add, is probably underestimated by them. Another way I could to try and explain it, I just finished reading the Ranulph Fiennes book, 'Cold'. A few times throughout the book, he referenced Land Rovers (meaning Defenders) for some of his barmy expeditions. Amongst the photos there is a tracked 110 hard top in the snow. Then, last night I watched the Aussie cop show 'Rush' and in that particular episode they were called to an Australian Army base, and there must have been 10 Defenders (including older 88"s and 109"s) in the background. Last weekend, my two boys spotted an Italian Army 90 hard top driving by our house, which they thought was super cool (most of the Army ones here have a canvas tilt). So my point is that Land Rover have achieved a form of respect and a type of penetration throughout the world, that even the Japanese manufacturers (with their vastly superior budgets) still can not compete with. Having been a Brit expat for many years now, I've also started to understand how other nations see things like the Land Rover, and I've got a respected Italian architect mate who says the Land Rover is one of the best designs in history, and he isn't just meaning for vehicles. But if I mention the MG-F, then he laughs. I also have a Kiwi mate who thinks the Defender is the 4x4 by which all others are judged. Basically, the worldwide perception seems to be that the Defender is one of the most iconic English items ever created, which is admired worldwide. I really pray that they can see that in Solihull, and that they create something that is more than just an SUV which appeals to car buyers. |
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12th Mar 2014 11:24am |
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| Tiger Member Since: 06 Jul 2012 Location: Wales Posts: 2265 
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Put the Reg number in to the Registration checker and it says it's a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jag..... 
In Fact BL63 FDV is a Jaguar Estate |
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12th Mar 2014 11:29am |
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| Tiger Member Since: 06 Jul 2012 Location: Wales Posts: 2265
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Just to check I ran the spy shots for early JLR cars
but VX11HSK is a Land Rover Estate VX13DWE, a Land Rover Estate VU11DVM, a Land Rover Estate VX62ESV, a Land Rover Estate BK63XMV, a Land Rover Estate |
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12th Mar 2014 11:36am |
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| Limey Member Since: 18 Oct 2013 Location: Northern Italy Posts: 193
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I hope you guys like these.
My boys love our Landie, and so do I (having been without one for about a decade previously), so whenever they find cool photos, we save them. Here are some photos, that I think sum up the appeal of a Defender, in a way that no other vehicle on planet earth can... 
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12th Mar 2014 11:43am |
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| Limey Member Since: 18 Oct 2013 Location: Northern Italy Posts: 193
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part 2,
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12th Mar 2014 11:44am |
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