clueless in the off-roading dept. Anyone who thinks 19”,20” , 22” rims are a suitable option for their flagship off-roader is for want of a better term.....redacted.

sales are doing just fine of course. .

folks love those big big alloys and shiny trims.

more horsepower. More!

captains chairs and paddle shifters. Yes!

a wide array of 22” rims.

brakes so big you could use the rotors as a lazy Susan. Folks can’t get enough.

Base trim has long gone
S trim is now useless on 19”s
SE trim has morphed from a middle of the road P400 trim into a V8

The trend is clear and clueless.

 

Nothing in the refresh to allow fitment of 18"s on all trims.
Nothing done to address the useless factory reverse lights.
Nothing done to address the rear shock failings
Auxillary cooler still in the way of bigger tires
No factory sliders or bar work in the states.


If LR employed even 1 individual worldwide, to be an active and attentive member of the various fora, they might actually move the needle to improve things. No doubt they spend millions on expert panels and customer consultants to tell them that what they need is to make the Defender more and more like a poor-mans RangeRover.

 

Questionable decisions under Tata imo. All electric for Jag is another. I think they could use new ownership tbh.

 

Yet it is poorman's alternative to G-wagen with nice interior layout and it sells pretty good.
Soccer moms don't need reverse lights and care less about 18" and rock crawlers, and they won't use that ladder, it's just for cool looks.
Shocks failing is lesser problem than steering locking, also it looks like dashboard dimming was finally fixed by software update.
.

 

I don't see many Defenders around but when I have seen them I don't recall a woman driving one. I don't think it's much of a soccer mom vehicle like Grand Cherokee, Suburban, Tahoe, Wagoneer, Highlander etc. Maybe it's just where I live, could well be, nobody has much money around here.

 

I’ve only seen women driving them in Charlotte.

 

Pretty funny because I bought mine from a dealer in North Carolina and it was a trade in on a new G Wagon. When I cleaned it as soon as it was delivered, this was under the back seat.

 

Looks like the backseat of my sister-in-laws Cayenne. Thank God don’t have kids. That would drive me crazy.

 

No steel wheels for 2025!?

That threw me into a panic over my order (90S with steelies), but for which I was unable to get any status information. Since my emails were not being answered, I drove over to the dealer, and to my relief it's on the boat, steel wheels and all. About 3-4 weeks to go. Yay!

By the way, I agree that the fake steel wheels (white painted 20" alloys) are all wrong. And I even had to inform the dealer that no, they are fake!

 

My theory is that in an effort to drum up sales of the country pack. (Tasman contrast roof, some stripes, some shiny bits and the idiotic faux-steelies) they've deleted the actual steelie.

Trick enough folks into paying for these monstrosities thinking they're getting a useful 18" rim and not one that looks like the owner has suffered a cerebral event for the low low price of $4500+

Smart.