I saw my first 90 yesterday in person and it looked like a full-size Lego toy. Very basic and very bland. The opposite of rugged manly. But, that is what distinguishes it from all else and that is why people buy them, they want to stand out. Mission accomplished JLR.

The Bronco will compete with Jeep Wrangler and compete it will. Glad there is now something out to compete with the Wrangler. I've said before, they appeal to different types of people. The comfort of the Defender appeals to the wealthy who want to "off-road" on plush leather seats with a soft ride, quiet cabin and great creature comforts while drinking The Glenlivet. The Bronco owners want a utilitarian buggy that can be washed out with a hose when you spill your Bud Light while mudding through old forest roads with the doors off...knowing that some dude isn't going to wave at you when he goes to pass.

To each his own!

 

FWIW IMO the new Defender could be my only bar. The Bronco or a Jeep (probably) could not.

 

I hear you. It's true.

I'm only narrowly seeing it from an underperforming portfolio perspective and trying to figure out where they go as a brand.

They remind me a lot of Circuit City. Best Buy came along and the competition made the pie so much bigger that both companies actually did better in shared markets. For a while...

CC was frenetically trying to fix their internal issues and their rapid, unchecked, erratic change did them in. Too much chaos trying to figure out who they were and how they should deal with the underperforming legacy parts that weighed on their profits. They lost focus on what mattered.

If you were to take the 10 best CEO's on the planet and put them in a room to discuss Jeep, I feel like there would be a common theme without a lot of consensus on how to go forward. It's not just new competitors. Add the challenge of electrification in the toughest category (off-road) and they need to make perfect decisions for a while. Do they have that leadership?

Can't help but think Jeep is going to meet Jesus in the next few years as an also-ran in a new golden age of off-road offerings, free money, and more active lifestyle vacations and road trips. They'll survive but they might not look the same when it's over.

 

I disagree completely. I have a black 2 door badlands with the optional wheels and high package on order and I am a hour 1 reservist. I finally got to see one in the metal back in July and I thought it looked like a cartoon. The one I saw was sasquatched, but still, it looked comical. Then I sat in it and it just felt cheap. Around the same time I started seeing Defender 90's in the wild, and every time I would see one, I would like it more and more. I finally went and test drove one and placed my order immediately. I think the D90 looks much better in person and the Bronco looks much better in pictures. The bronco is a purpose built truck, and thats great. It fulfills a lot of the off roaders needs and having options is always a good thing for consumers. Is the Bronco and Defender customer the same? Were they ever?

 

The opposite of rugged manly.


LOL... How do you reconcile the above with "when you spill your Bud Light "

The Bronco could be "I get my hands dirty for a living" while the Defender reads "Where's the Centurian lounge?"

 

Well, you can't say I didn't see this coming 🙃

 

man is driven in total by his insecurities..

 

Took a Bronco test ride at a Ford event today. No comparison between the two as far as interior. The Ford interior is very low level considering this one was a Badlands and therefor decently upgraded. The capability was good, but the interior was a let down.

 

I'm 100% with you on this. I made this mistake of taking my fiancee with me to see the Bronco as well back in July. At that time they only had Velocity Blue and Red, which didn't help. We both walked out thinking the same thing.. the Bronco is a toy. Simple as that. The driving position is nowhere near as commanding as I had expected and the interior is cheap, cheap, cheap and very cramped for the size of the truck. Although I guess it does have slightly more cargo space, Ford did a terrible job with the interior from layout to materials to spacing. That bing said, it seems cheap plastic is exactly what a significant percentage of Bronco customer want. A well spec'd Defender absolutely looks and feels like a beast in real life and there is no comparison when if comes to comfort and ride quality. Do I still want a Bronco? Yeah, but I no longer want the highly equipped model with all the features I had ordered. When my time comes to reup my order in 2023, t will be going as basic as I can go.

 

At the end of the day, both vehicles are going to make plenty of people happy.