The new Defender for 2020
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Baja
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 5,845
Likes: 368
From: Near Bordeaux, France
The new Defender for 2020
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/104826...ender-pictures
It's a left hand drive 'mule' which speaks volumes about where it's going to be made, who it's directed at and it ain't primarily for the UK market punters.
It's a left hand drive 'mule' which speaks volumes about where it's going to be made, who it's directed at and it ain't primarily for the UK market punters.
Rock Crawling
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 411
Likes: 102
From: Delaware County, PA
So they're replacing the Defender with the LR4/D4?? ..Most likely a D5 with a square-ish body?? ..As expected; dumb. Now the Wrangler is the last one standing. Hold on to your Series, D1, D2, RRC and Defender fellas; it's all there is; no more... only polished.png "Poop")
Mudding
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 155
Likes: 28
There's still 70 series Land Cruisers, just not in the US. But there hasn't been Defenders in the US for decades either. The Defender markets in Africa and Australia were totally overcome by the Land Cruiser. I remember Jeremey Clarkson's movie about Japanese cars claiming Land Rover's share of the offroad market in Australia went from 90% to 2% when the Land Cruiser was introduced. For sure, safari rentals in Africa are predominantly Land Cruiser, not Defender or any other Land Rover, and certainly not Wranglers. Of course, here in the US, the Wrangler is totally dominant in new car sales for offroad use unless you count the near total takeover by UTV's.
The worst thing about a Defender that's anything like the one in the photos is that it will almost certainly be in the USD80000 price range or higher. I can't see them selling in the USD40000 that Land Cruisers sell for. For the few people and businesses (guides, rentals etc.) that buy new vehicles for off-road use, there is usually tens of thousands of dollars of customization needed. They buy bumpers, winches, skid plates, campers, awnings, dual-spare carriers, fridges, upgraded suspensions, storage systems, and so on. Those conversions would bring a New-Defender-based vehicle's cost way over USD100000. If the vehicles aren't as durable as a Land Cruiser, it would be a stupid investment. Even when the well-proven Puma Defenders were selling somewhere around USD65000 they were not cost-effective for most outfitters.
I won't be surprised at all if Land Rover comes up with an even higher entry point closer to six-figures for the New Defender. I can't believe even Discoveries are selling for eighty-grand. It's madness. It seems like they've determined to sell to the poseurs and have no interest in people who actually use the vehicles offroad.
I heard one commentator say that Land Rovers aren't taken offroad until after 7 years and 3 owners. That's not true for 70 series Land Cruisers and UTV's. It wasn't true for Series Land Rovers, early Defenders and Discoveries (at least outside the US market). Land Rover, perhaps for the first time in all its history, has the ability to overcome the one cause for which Toyota totally displaced it in the offroad market. It's finally free of what seemed like an endless string of labor disputes, crippling by trade unions, nationalization, Leonard Lord, British Leyland, and meddling by Ford and BMW, so that it can actually produce a decent product that isn't totally riddled with flaws and quality issues. Simply put, technology has made it possible that even a small, quirky auto-maker like Land Rover can produce cars that are competitive with alternatives from the largest, hundred-billion dollar brands. If only they had the guts to make a vehicle for the offroad market.
They don't. Instead, they're convinced that the volume of sales comes from wannabees and poseurs that will overpay for the style but actually want something more like a modern Range Rover or Lexus. They're afraid to build something that can actually be put to cost-effective use for hundreds of thousands of kilometers of rutted tracks, washboard, sand, mud, rock, camping, and expedition use that the poseurs might forego for something wimpier and more sensual. They should be leading the market, directing it, telling the consumer: "You've been misled. We're actually the experts on off-road. This is what you really want." And the credible proof of their claim would be when real offroad users flock back to Land Rover because they're delivering what actually works. A Defender should stick-out among current Land Rover vehicles the same way a Chevrolet work truck with a utility service bed sticks out among Corvettes.
The worst thing about a Defender that's anything like the one in the photos is that it will almost certainly be in the USD80000 price range or higher. I can't see them selling in the USD40000 that Land Cruisers sell for. For the few people and businesses (guides, rentals etc.) that buy new vehicles for off-road use, there is usually tens of thousands of dollars of customization needed. They buy bumpers, winches, skid plates, campers, awnings, dual-spare carriers, fridges, upgraded suspensions, storage systems, and so on. Those conversions would bring a New-Defender-based vehicle's cost way over USD100000. If the vehicles aren't as durable as a Land Cruiser, it would be a stupid investment. Even when the well-proven Puma Defenders were selling somewhere around USD65000 they were not cost-effective for most outfitters.
I won't be surprised at all if Land Rover comes up with an even higher entry point closer to six-figures for the New Defender. I can't believe even Discoveries are selling for eighty-grand. It's madness. It seems like they've determined to sell to the poseurs and have no interest in people who actually use the vehicles offroad.
I heard one commentator say that Land Rovers aren't taken offroad until after 7 years and 3 owners. That's not true for 70 series Land Cruisers and UTV's. It wasn't true for Series Land Rovers, early Defenders and Discoveries (at least outside the US market). Land Rover, perhaps for the first time in all its history, has the ability to overcome the one cause for which Toyota totally displaced it in the offroad market. It's finally free of what seemed like an endless string of labor disputes, crippling by trade unions, nationalization, Leonard Lord, British Leyland, and meddling by Ford and BMW, so that it can actually produce a decent product that isn't totally riddled with flaws and quality issues. Simply put, technology has made it possible that even a small, quirky auto-maker like Land Rover can produce cars that are competitive with alternatives from the largest, hundred-billion dollar brands. If only they had the guts to make a vehicle for the offroad market.
They don't. Instead, they're convinced that the volume of sales comes from wannabees and poseurs that will overpay for the style but actually want something more like a modern Range Rover or Lexus. They're afraid to build something that can actually be put to cost-effective use for hundreds of thousands of kilometers of rutted tracks, washboard, sand, mud, rock, camping, and expedition use that the poseurs might forego for something wimpier and more sensual. They should be leading the market, directing it, telling the consumer: "You've been misled. We're actually the experts on off-road. This is what you really want." And the credible proof of their claim would be when real offroad users flock back to Land Rover because they're delivering what actually works. A Defender should stick-out among current Land Rover vehicles the same way a Chevrolet work truck with a utility service bed sticks out among Corvettes.
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