catman
Full Access Member
The Tusk ball is scheduled for May 9th at Kensington Palace in the UK - maybe there will be a Defender there and a photo will leak. You know LR already has a special one in queue for the Royals.
Another Defender hint?
- Thread starter iSurfvilano
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cperez
Full Access Member
As news items go, this is thin gruel indeed, but at least it shows that the LR bossman has a keen grasp of the obvious:
https://www.carmag.co.za/news/land-rover-boss-says-defender-wont-be-an-easy-launch/
https://www.carmag.co.za/news/land-rover-boss-says-defender-wont-be-an-easy-launch/
Man, if only there was something they could have done to make the launch much easier?
There have been a few stories lately where Land Rover executives are quoted as saying they wished the launch of the new Defender had come contemporaneous to the original Defender ceasing production--you know, the way most vehicles are done. I wonder if there's some behind the scenes drama there?
We know they tried to do it with the DC100 concept in 2011, but that thing was so universally panned it got banished to the shadow realm. Now, even if they started from scratch at that point, they surely could have designed a replacement by 2016. But they didn't. For some reason, it took them until 2019 to design a replacement that, as of right now, seems to look like an updated LR4. Maybe it took a while to convince some Land Rover brass that the DC100 was dead on arrival? Who knows. But I feel like something happened there.
Land Rover keeps going on and on about how the Defender had to be totally redesigned due to modern safety requirements and just can't look like the old Defender anymore, but somehow both the Jeep Wrangler and the Mercedes G-Wagon are getting away with it. When the new G-Wagon was unveiled, I read a story where some Land Rover brass were in attendance and were heard snickering that Mercedes had barely redesigned it at all. That right there tells me that Land Rover doesn't get it. Maybe this is just my American perspective, though. Defenders are ubiquitous enough in the UK that maybe they don't seem as special or iconic as they do to us here in the States?
So who knows what this thing is going to be. I know for certain right now that there's going to be a sizeable portion of Land Rover fans who will hate it, because it's clear it won't have solid axles and it's going to be a lot more techno-whizbang than the original Defender. And that may or may not create a PR situation for Land Rover.
But I also believe the new Defender will probably be a pretty damn good truck, and it's looking like it will probably be one of the better aesthetically pleasing designs to come out of Land Rover in a while. That said, I'm just not sold on it being a "Defender" just yet.
I just don't understand why Land Rover thinks it needs to coat every one of its vehicles in the same polish. Right now, the only thing that separates one vehicle from another is "how much can the buyer afford?," followed closely by "how big of a vehicle does the buyer want?" That's pretty much it. This thing may at least look a little different than the rest, but what really is going to separate it from a D5 or a RRS or a Velar?
There have been a few stories lately where Land Rover executives are quoted as saying they wished the launch of the new Defender had come contemporaneous to the original Defender ceasing production--you know, the way most vehicles are done. I wonder if there's some behind the scenes drama there?
We know they tried to do it with the DC100 concept in 2011, but that thing was so universally panned it got banished to the shadow realm. Now, even if they started from scratch at that point, they surely could have designed a replacement by 2016. But they didn't. For some reason, it took them until 2019 to design a replacement that, as of right now, seems to look like an updated LR4. Maybe it took a while to convince some Land Rover brass that the DC100 was dead on arrival? Who knows. But I feel like something happened there.
Land Rover keeps going on and on about how the Defender had to be totally redesigned due to modern safety requirements and just can't look like the old Defender anymore, but somehow both the Jeep Wrangler and the Mercedes G-Wagon are getting away with it. When the new G-Wagon was unveiled, I read a story where some Land Rover brass were in attendance and were heard snickering that Mercedes had barely redesigned it at all. That right there tells me that Land Rover doesn't get it. Maybe this is just my American perspective, though. Defenders are ubiquitous enough in the UK that maybe they don't seem as special or iconic as they do to us here in the States?
So who knows what this thing is going to be. I know for certain right now that there's going to be a sizeable portion of Land Rover fans who will hate it, because it's clear it won't have solid axles and it's going to be a lot more techno-whizbang than the original Defender. And that may or may not create a PR situation for Land Rover.
But I also believe the new Defender will probably be a pretty damn good truck, and it's looking like it will probably be one of the better aesthetically pleasing designs to come out of Land Rover in a while. That said, I'm just not sold on it being a "Defender" just yet.
I just don't understand why Land Rover thinks it needs to coat every one of its vehicles in the same polish. Right now, the only thing that separates one vehicle from another is "how much can the buyer afford?," followed closely by "how big of a vehicle does the buyer want?" That's pretty much it. This thing may at least look a little different than the rest, but what really is going to separate it from a D5 or a RRS or a Velar?
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catman
Full Access Member
Still not much meat, but this is the Speth interview referred to above.
https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/jaguar-land-rover-ceo-speth-outlines-revival-plan
https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/jaguar-land-rover-ceo-speth-outlines-revival-plan
Houm_WA
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LR6
TheWidup
Full Access Member
I feel like it's all moot for us in America. If it's crap, it'll never sell. If it's great, it'll get tariffed 25% and the prices will be insane.
Davidinseattle
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well, our LR4 goes off warranty tomorrow. Since there are no comparable vehicles that my wife would even consider driving, my dealer has graciously offered to put another 5 years and 42,500 miles worth of extended warranty on her for the kings ransom of $3995 OTD and I am thrilled. That's a sad state...My $75000 F350 crew cab turbo diesel has a premium Ford ESP for 8 years and 125,000 miles and I paid just under $2k for it.
Oh well, I guess it's cheaper than buying a non existent comparable replacement vehicle for her. So, we are hoping in three or four years, the Defender comes out with a LWB and a 3rd row. Fingers crossed. I've got three kids and brand loyal wife. I really don't have many options...
Oh well, I guess it's cheaper than buying a non existent comparable replacement vehicle for her. So, we are hoping in three or four years, the Defender comes out with a LWB and a 3rd row. Fingers crossed. I've got three kids and brand loyal wife. I really don't have many options...
Take that deal for $3995. I figure my CPO warranty covered about $7K worth of repairs between 50K miles and 100K miles. And I expect to pay about $3K tomorrow when I pick up my LR4 with a new rear view camera, new water pump, new valve cover gasket and new alternator.
We can't find a comparable vehicle to replace the LR4 either.
I figure I paid about $3.5k more for my LR4 with CPO warranty than a comparative one without, but it wasn't until I had my timing chain guides done less than a month before my warranty expired that I was "ahead" on the deal. Until then, I think I had about $1,500 worth of warranty work done in the 2 years and 11 months I had owned it.
