Land Rover Round-Up

[Serg]

While other manufacturers in the Ford Premier Automotive Group (not to mince words, Jaguar) have struggled, Land Rover has experienced a record-breaking 2005, beating its previous high-water mark by 14% to notch up 185,120 sales worldwide.

In the UK, Land Rover has broken its own record every year for the last six, while sales in the US improved by an impressive 30%. The Chinese market for Land Rover products more than doubled in 2005, and there was a 67% upturn in the Russian market.



Land Rover means Range Rover too, of course, and the Range Rover Sport has proved to be a considerable success, with 30,356 examples sold in the six months since its introduction. This compares very favourably to the performance of the Discovery, of which 53,558 units were sold across the whole year.

Speaking of the global figure, Land Rover's Managing Director Matthew Taylor says that "this fantastic achievement is a reflection of a strong, new model line-up and is a reward for significant investment and hard work. We said 2005 would be the year of opportunity and the United States would be an increasingly important market for Land Rover. We set out to seize success and grabbed it with both hands. We now need to maintain that momentum."

[keptin]

hmpf....perhaps with all the success Ford....ehemm...I mean LR can create an NAS rover to compete with the Jeep Wrangler.....its going to be tough with the 07' having electronic toys (disconnects, front + rear lockers) and just asking to get on the trails with the an optional HD off-road package with skid plates, rock sliders, diff guards and a 9500 lbs warn winch. ....the Wrangler also has quite a lead in the market...

I think Land Rover can do it!! There must still be some bit of a soul left...some sense of individuallity....its not too late. Just because LR has been assimilated into the ford collected does that mean that it is lost forever as an off-road vehicle?

Does anyone think it would be a good idea to start a petition to ask for a near-bare bones, wrangler-similar land rover that would be within a similar pricerange? One that could compete with the wrangler on a vehicle vs. vehicle level. ....what if we could get like 500 people to sign it??..common....between Dweb, pirate 4x4, d-90.com, muddyoval, us and all the other smaller forums.....

[rmuller]

We could get 5000 people, I still think they wouldn't care.

[keptin]

Well maybe they would.....there is definatly a market....and jeep is really the only one to get a hold in it. LR has the heritage, etc. and has the potential to get a piece of the pie. If it had a decent priced defender 90 sized something in the US the I think there would be sales....not as many as jeep, but it would sell. If they had a diesel option too...and optional factory "toys" perhaps it could do good. How many would they have to sell to break even on producing that model??

[DiscoPilot]

I think that if we started a circulating petetion to ask for a D90 I think we could get ALOT of names. I mean If the D90 was still available who in their right mind would by a rubricon, and the fact that yota has made another FJ attempt means its time for rover to come clean house we need another D90 I'm up for it, and toys... Diesel its all over and they could mention that the US military is trading in their Humvee's for D90's with the current focus on our armed forces that would be a big deal promotionally

[Private Iron]

Originally Posted by DiscoPilot

they could mention that the US military is trading in their Humvee's for D90's with the current focus on our armed forces that would be a big deal promotionally

Is that true or wishful thinking?

[DiscoPilot]

Tis true my friend

[keptin]

Originally Posted by Private Iron

Is that true or wishful thinking?

Im not sure if they are trading in for defenders necessarily, but they did buy about 2500 of them for Iraq. They are easier to paradrop/ship around and use less fuel, etc. etc. Its until the US can come up with the next light support vehicle.

[01001010]

a Petition???...PUT ME DOWN ma BROTHA!!!...In my email to LR i mentioned that we would do anything for a diesel powered LR. I my friend, am going to honor that email. When/Where/How do we start?

[jozg44]

The case for Land Rover staying out of the US utility market is looking increasingly shaky.

I used to understand Land Rover's reluctance to offer a Defender in the USA. That market is HUGE, and the NAS-spec Defenders cost a lot of money to make. From about 1974 onwards Land Rover has been strapped for cash. BMW had no interest in the Defender at all. I could see why Land Rover, which had enough problems keeping the Defender in the UK market, let alone the USA, kept out.

Now though, Ford has put loads of money into the Defender. It costs less to produce, build quality is (apparently) better than it has been for years (even if they still can't crack rustproofing), and the vehicles are still (I believe) the best out-of-the-box off-roaders you can buy (apart from Unimogs, which cost silly amounts of money and require an HGV license to drive)- a Defender 90 with a Td5, mud tyres and traction control is UNSTOPPABLE.

Sales in the UK have been increasing steadily (both the 'soft' Station Wagon versions and the more 'hard core' Commercial ones). Once the new 4-cylinder engine arrives later this year, then the Defender's big failing compared to the Japanese pick-ups (which is its low power and rather poor low-speed torque) should be gone.

If Land Rover crack their reliability/build quality problems, without making everything to complex (that's the key), then they'd be selling a beam-axled, 3-wheelbase, bolt-together 4x4 which is still the only commercial utility with coil-springs all-round, with a 4-ton tow weight and 150 horsepower. How could that not sell?

Basically, that is a very long way of saying that Land Rover has enough financial security (both from Ford and the great success of the Disco 3 /RRS) and the right vehicle, to give the North American market the Defender again.

I warned it would be a long post!

P.S- I'm still not exactly sure WHY the Defender can't be sold in the USA, and what they'd have to do to make it so. Is it emissions, crash safety or something silly like weight regulations?

[96owner]

well lets stop talking about it and make a petition and give it a shot its worth a try. im only 15 and not the best with words so some 1 else start it but heres a site to do it.
http://www.petitiononline.com/create_petition.html

[Funrover]

That would be great to have a true off-road nor thrill rig to compete with jeep...But I don't know if LR could price it in a range that would rival Jeep!! But hell I'd still get one!

[DiscoPilot]

Price keeps out the riff raff

[garland823]

our best hope is that when land rover redesigns the defender, they remember that the current one is a workhorse. i've always felt that jeeps are for play and landies are for work. the sketches that were released seem too much like the fj, xterra, and even the h3. thats a pretty crowded market. a more workhorse oriented truck would do much better.

[keptin]

Alright.....we need someone to write a petition!!! ...or at least pieces of it. Something like or which includes;


Since 1994 Land Rover has ceased to make a Defender NAS spec model to be sold in the United States of America. With the lack of a decent priced, 90 inch or similar model a considerable amount of enthusiasts have been forced to buy other vehicles. This was understandable because of Land Rover's economic situation and the cost to produce a Defender, but since Ford has bought out Land Rover we feel as though there is sufficient economical backing and demand in the market to support a Defender-like Land Rover to compete with the Jeep Wrangler. With the arrival of the 2007 Toyota FJ cruiser to bring back thier FJ40 and the 2007 Jeep Wrangler with suggested 4-door and CRD (Common Rail Diesel) options we see Land Rover is not taking advantage of the market demand for a reasonably priced, rugged, "bare bones", off-road vehicle, especially considering Land Rover's deep heritage.

We think what is needed is to reintroduce a Defender or similar "bare bones" vehicle that is designed primarily around off-roading and is priced within a reasonable pricerange to reach its intended buyers. A diesel engine option, and optional factory off-road equiptment would be available. A short and long wheelbase option would be preferable. Like the Jeep Wrangler, this vehicle would use live axles only and come with a manual transmission option.

This vehicle is needed because we feel Land Rover is straying from its heritage and will eventually loose it by having a vehicle line consisting entirely of vehicles indended mostly for road use only. Land Rover is also loosing many potential buyers by not having a vehicle to suit the off-road croud, thier enthusiasts and the new/young driver croud, by having no diesel option, high prices, no short wheelbase vehicle in this fasion or with live axles or differential lockers and only actively sells vehicles mostly equipted with unreliable air suspension and a high amount of questionable electronic systems. With a vehicle that would suit the demands presented, Land Rover would have one of the few vehicles on the market that would fill the growing nitch for vehicles of this kind. With Land Rover's deep heritage, it has something that only a few companies have; namely Jeep, Toyota and Land Rover. Since Jeep and Toyota have thier own vehicles to cover this market, we see Land Rover as the only company left in this small ring that hasnt. We are concerned that if Land Rover does not produce a vehicle soon to suit these needs then it will loose its opportunity to have its piece of the market and that Toyota, Jeep and other competators will already have a much stonger base and active continuing heritage, taking much of the attention away from future Land Rover models.



WOW!...err....I ran out of steam...

....someone add/correct it now! I commandith thee!