Time called on the G-Wagens favourite rival
Yeah, it is sad news. I wonder what the replacement will be like.
It's a shame LR didn't take a leaf out of MB's book, and develop the defender a bit more. give it airbags etc and autobox, things to bring it up to the 21st century.
I suspect it'll be like the old Jeeps though... plenty of companies will still be making chassis/body parts, so they will still exist for decades to come, just not *new* from the factory.
I love my defenders, got 2 here (90 & 110, both built by me) but I'm swaying towards a G. would love a PUR edition!
brave or misguided. whatever way you cut it ,that is killing the golden goose... to remove a product that defines a company with such a 'strong image' that has become the generic term for an offroader seems totally bizarre -develop it -yes - this could be a marketing ploy.
totally agree with you dieseljim, LR just never bothered to develop what was an excellent product. Unlike the article suggests, its not emmissions, or safety laws, etc that has been the end of the defender, its the fact that not enough money was poured into further development. Look at the Porsche 911 if you want to see what can be done! It frustrates me to pieces that we can not invest in our own industry here. For 15 years I had LRs, did everything imaginable to them until one day I took a look around and tried a G: never looked back. It not better offroad, or anything like that: it's just as good, just very well put together and well thought out (and you don't have to have your elbow out of the window to get a decent driving position). Very sad end to what could have (continued to be) a World-beater product. IF only...........
But have you seen what they planned to replace it with? No way would a self-respecting farmer be seen driving one of those
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/plans-new-land-rover-defender-shaken
front of a mini and the back of that Toyota FJ Cruiser?
Well G should be ok until 2024 (or so they told me on the Iron Mountain Day..
Spider1V
The production contract with contract Magna Steyr runs until 2019. However, the 2024 figure could be right as sales are on the up and the production facilities have recently been modernised and capacity increased.
Last year Mercedes sold about 9,000 Gs, that was a plus of 35%. The sales figure for the first half of 2014 is 70% (!!) higher than in the first half of 2013. Total number of Gs produced since 1979 amounts to 230,000.
As said above, it could just be a marketing ploy by LR to get some sales up.
From what I can glean from the various LR comics, they've not released any pics of the replacement yet... there was the DC100 thing a few months back which was just a knocked up "idea" but was far too non functional, and was quickly dismissed by LR.
Again as said, it's the goose that lays the golden egg.... the stop the defender and the heritage will soon dissapear, because as good as the RR/disco/ewok is, they don't have the heritage that the defender has.
Still, their loss. If I win the lotto I'll have a new defender, but also two G's! (a 63 and a PUR.edition...)
The PUR/Worker/Professional W461 will cease to be available for civilians next year, of not already. Being the closest G to a Defender. Like LR, the only ones left will be the mega buck luxo-barges (G63, G550 and to a lesser extent G350) GL, ML and compact SUV's like the GLA. Like LR, there is more money in luxury for MB as less people actually use their 4x4 for what they were (originally) designed for. The bean counters dont see a reason to cater for the niche market that actually want a rugged offroad machine. In Australia when the Defenders are not available the only option left for a commercial 4x4 is a 70-series Toyota, as Nissan's new V8 petrol-only Patrol (Safari) has also gone large, soft and expensive.
It had to happen eventually. Like Pinzgauer, Defender is no longer viable due to the exceptional amount of hand assembly which makes it very expensive to build and, of course, the struggle to make it meet the modern build standards imposed on the car industry. I doubt JLR make much, if any, profit on Defenders; certainly not as much as they do on the lesser models (in terms of off-road ability and utility). It has become increasingly obvious that most farmers and others in the new 4x4 market can manage very well with 4x4 pick up trucks of the Isuzu/Toyota/Mitsubishi/Ford/Great Wall ilk, which offer real reliability and an impressive range of options.
Whenever JLR talk of dropping the Defender, the greatest outcry usually comes from the "Bobble hat and sandals" brigade, who rarely, if ever, buy a brand new vehicle, yet behave as if their lives will come to an end at its demise.
As was said above, Defenders will be around for some considerable time yet, providing work and income for the multitude of after-market specialists and spares suppliers that have proliferated all over the world (and the North of England). Who knows, production might even kick-off elsewhere for large local markets like Asia. The Mini-Moke has just gone back into production (yes, really) under those sort of circumstances, so why not Defender? Whether it would be allowed back into UK as a roadworthy prospect is another matter, Construction and Use Regs and Vehicle Type Approvals being what they are.
Personally, I think JLR will come up with a worthy replacement. They are not stupid, they have some excellent engineers and they now have more funds available than at any time in their history for research and development, plus some amazing test facilities around the world.
To be honest, I'm watching this space with eager anticipation.
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