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Porsche sold their soul to the devil years ago with the Cayenne, and laughed all the way to the bank. They miraculously managed to retain their image of uncompromising sports car company, even though they probably sell 20 SUVs for every one 911. Land Rover is more boxed in in that respect. Jaguar should help, but they keep sucking. The new Defender (the forthcoming 130 in particular, and this super duper luxury flagship they are talking about) is making the full size Discovery more and more superfluous. The D5 looks like the bargain in the full size Land Rover lineup right now, but it shouldn't be. Defenders should be the occupying that slot. The Evoque and Disco Sport are virtual copycats of each other. The Velar is... What is the Velar? It looks real sharp, I'll give you that, but it's squeezed into an impossibly thin slice of market share between the high volume Sport and the Evoque - and can't really go off-road like the other big boys in the family. Something's got to give.
I view the Evoque and the Velar prior to 2020 to be similar to what what the Prelude used to be for Honda -- test beds for styling, technology and market cutting edge concepts, ideas, shapes and feelings generated. I believe they both performed exceptionally well in this arena during the late 1990s.
I think JLR took a wrong step when they released the "new" 2020 and beyond, enlarged soap bar look of the Evoque which now looks like the other JLR vehicles -- ughhh. I thought our 1996 Evoque was a wonderful, unique, special vehicle. I do not think the current one is.
I agree there needs to be some flushing out of models vs. mission vs. market in the coming 5 years.
From: Summer in Upstate NY, Winter in South Florida, Spring and Fall in Kentucky
Originally Posted by benb007
I think they may be on the right track with a Defender brand. But, in my opinion, they are missing a huge opportunity trying to take on the eight seater Suburban/Navigator market instead of taking on (redefining) the Bronco/Jeep market. Nothing in that article really sounds any better than what they've already designed. The current Defender design is really exceptional. Execution could use some work but the design and materials are already top tier. i think they are grossly overestimating the amount of size and luxury that the market really wants. At some point, the vehicle ceases to be classic at all and just becomes tacky. Sure, they could stand to add some obvious features like autonomous driving and more EV biased options. But I think a doors off, top-off vehicle based on what they already have would be a huge seller for them just based on my perceptions of the current trends. I personally think there are quite a few people who dropped 65k+ for a Jeep or Bronco who wouldn't blink an eye at shelling out 100k+ for a mid-range Defender with an open air option. I realize it's probably not as simple as I make it sound but it just seems like money left on the table.
Totally agree...An Open Air 4x4 off roader with a bit of panache and style on road would seriously appeal to the Bronco/Jeep market.
Porsche sold their soul to the devil years ago with the Cayenne, and laughed all the way to the bank. They miraculously managed to retain their image of uncompromising sports car company, even though they probably sell 20 SUVs for every one 911. Land Rover is more boxed in in that respect. Jaguar should help, but they keep sucking. The new Defender (the forthcoming 130 in particular, and this super duper luxury flagship they are talking about) is making the full size Discovery more and more superfluous. The D5 looks like the bargain in the full size Land Rover lineup right now, but it shouldn't be. Defenders should be the occupying that slot. The Evoque and Disco Sport are virtual copycats of each other. The Velar is... What is the Velar? It looks real sharp, I'll give you that, but it's squeezed into an impossibly thin slice of market share between the high volume Sport and the Evoque - and can't really go off-road like the other big boys in the family. Something's got to give.
It helps that their SUVs are the best handling and best built on the market. And that the 911, despite now being part of a line up that includes SUVs, sedans, and now electric vehicles, is still at the top of the class in regards to driving dynamics and engagement.
I am all for LR going to a more niche market, if it means that there is more substance to the brand's products. Can't be all hat and no cattle, not in this market.
After driving a rental Range Rover Sport and a full size Range Rover, I can say the JLR has the SUV market covered. My defender X drives just like full size Range Rover with a more rugged capability. The sport like it's moniker gives sport handling characteristics to the SUV but the sheer wide stance of the full size gives you a more confidence inspiring fast and sharp turns in the undulating fastback of HWY 101. All three drive very differently from each other. Hence I think JLR got this right in not saying one size fits all. It feels like even after owning a defender X, there is still a need to own a Range Rover Or a Sport. Now the Velar and the Discovey comes to a different market altogether. The Velar is for small families while bigger families would fit comfortably in a Discovery.
IMO pretty good decisions. Any variant smaller than a 90 would be silly IMO, I think they reached that conclusion quickly enough. They do need a variant with more of a luxury feel for some people though. Unfortunately I think you will cut into the RRS a little bit with such a variant but you also pull in some more new customers to the brand. The challenge is going to be pricing because I worry they'll probably start them at 75k, that will keep a lot of people at bay.
The Defender was always supposed to eventually move to the new MLA platform after the initial generation, so I suspect the "ultra luxury" Defender will simply be the first iteration under the new platform and then the other variants will ultmately follow suit as their update times come due.
The Defender was always supposed to eventually move to the new MLA platform after the initial generation, so I suspect the "ultra luxury" Defender will simply be the first iteration under the new platform and then the other variants will ultmately follow suit as their update times come due.
That’s a shame because I thought the Defender monocoque construction was the creme de la creme of their platforms, more exclusive to the Defender branding as an exception and utilized for a much longer period ‘JLR claims the lightweight-aluminium monocoque construction of the Defender is the stiffest body structure the brand has ever produced’, but rather now, it’ll simply be replaced in a few short years.
