FL2 is getting a facelift this September (more mini RRS than at present). There's a new FL2 (FL3?) due 2012MY I believe? Early hints on the FL2 website from someone in the know suggest a boxier, more practical shape.
After a chat with my accountant yesterday, the D3 may well be making way for a 110 USW in the next few months. I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
8th Apr 2010 8:46 pm
nigelc
Member Since: 16 Apr 2008
Location: leicestershire
Posts: 267
Verydisco wrote:
It would be the first name to be droped from the brand !
Anyway, the spirit of the current (and past) disco may live in the next Defedender (or a new product eventualy) as the Defender II ( ) will have to cover the job of at basic current Defender and the HSE D3 (the D4 being somewhat a RRS 7 seater already)
Therefore the Defender II may be a D3 clone in some part of its range, one could even imagine a "Defender Discovery" !
Return of the 110 County?
8th Apr 2010 9:58 pm
Renton
Member Since: 13 Jan 2009
Location: Somewhere in the middle
Posts: 1718
Where would the LRX fit in? Won't that replace the FL2? Doesn't make sense to have them both.CLUB ILLEGAL CAR WASHERS
Nigel, the County spec still exists - sat halfway between "you get seats sir, now be grateful and go away" and the XS (which has seats AND aircon)I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
9th Apr 2010 7:43 am
SN
Member Since: 03 Jan 2006
Location: Romiley
Posts: 13710
Member Since: 03 Jan 2006
Location: Romiley
Posts: 13710
Renton wrote:
Where would the LRX fit in? Won't that replace the FL2? Doesn't make sense to have them both.
LRX is ALSO a Rangie - you're gonna see just the Defender and FL2 as LR's with everything else being RR
LR are just following Toyota with their 'fake' Lexus approach
An old story of course, remember BMC with its Wolseley brand Steve N | 21MY Defender | 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history)
9th Apr 2010 8:59 am
Verydisco
Member Since: 02 Jan 2005
Location: A bit there, a bit over there and sometime at home, France
Posts: 1006
SN wrote:
Renton wrote:
Where would the LRX fit in? Won't that replace the FL2? Doesn't make sense to have them both.
LRX is ALSO a Rangie - you're gonna see just the Defender and FL2 as LR's with everything else being RR
LR are just following Toyota with their 'fake' Lexus approach
An old story of course, remember BMC with its Wolseley brand
I'd say it is more about Land Rover coming back to its roots and concentrating on the tough, basic 4X4 and pick-up markets worldwide (green won't stop manufacturer from selling utilitatarien vehicule before a while !) and letting run the Range Rover brand until the SUV market, even as green as possible, dies out within a decade or so.
Then it is smart to separate the two brands asap : the LR utility brand and the luxury suv one. If one comes to die, the other won't suffer much from it, at least not as much as if it was a single brand.
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9th Apr 2010 12:42 pm
TazDaz
Member Since: 07 May 2007
Location: South East Essex
Posts: 2858
Taken from Autocar :
Land Rover’s long-term product plan has taken a back seat while the Range Rover line-up has been given priority.
The recent Discovery revamp has assured the seven-seater a future in its current form until 2014 at least, and Project Icon, the plan to replace the Defender, is being finalised.
But the long-term strategic direction of the Land Rover brand and its model range is still being firmed up.
Significantly, there isn’t yet a concrete production plan for the next-generation Discovery after 2014, and the replacement for the Freelander is still up in the air. Likewise the project to create a seven-seat Freelander (codename L486) was quietly shelved when the effects of the economic crisis struck in 2009.
There are many reasons for this uncertainty, but the significant one has been justifying the hefty investment while LR’s strategy was unclear, in contrast to the strong case for replacing Range Rover products.
The Ford sell-off also had an effect, and key decisions were delayed during the process. Then Tata needed to get acquainted with its new purchase before signing off any new models.
This process was duly followed by the global financial meltdown, forcing JLR into survival rather than expansion mode. It’s easy to see why decisions have been taking so long.
What’s more, a new management team — Carl-Peter Forster at Tata Motors and Ralf Speth at JLR — needs to be comfortable with the future plan before investment is committed.
Tied in to all of these strategic decisions is the future of Land Rover’s Solihull plant, expected to be named for closure by the middle of this decade.
At least a slightly more certain economic outlook has allowed a consensus on Land Rover’s direction to emerge, although alternatives are understood to be under consideration.
The idea is to reposition Land Rover closer to its utility roots, a move that will create more space between the brand and Range Rover. Today’s cars overlap too much — the Discovery is in essence a seven-seat Range Rover — and the forthcoming Range Rover LRX will tread on the Freelander’s toes.
JLR estimates there’s a three-million-vehicle market worldwide for pick-ups and utility 4x4s, and currently Land Rover sells just 25,000 units into that sector. How Land Rover expands its range with models that fit its brand image and extends its appeal globally is occupying the company’s best brains right now.
The existence of the seven-seat Range Rover Sport tells us a lot about the thinking on the post-2014 Discovery, too. The first seven-seat Range Rover will take over where today’s Discovery leaves off.
But there is also an idea to make a new seven-seat Discovery closer to the 1989 original. Based around the new Project Icon/Defender platform, it would be rugged and mechanically relatively simple, but more luxurious than the Defender, while being far more workmanlike than its Range Rover siblings.
More importantly, it would be designed to appeal to a global audience, particularly in developing countries and the BRICs: Brazil, Russia, India and China. The latter is already Land Rover’s third-biggest market after the UK and US. Success with the Icon Project and the Defender/Discovery might ultimately make it the biggest.
9th Apr 2010 1:50 pm
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
To be honest the above makes a lot of sense 2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
Others must have seen it, Autocar this week with the monocoque FFRR and the indication
/ thought that the Discovery may leave the upmarket shadow of RR and become a posh Defender on project Icon.
Interesting article, which makes sense if true.
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10th Apr 2010 9:35 pm
dick dastardly
Member Since: 29 May 2007
Location: wiggleigh bottom
Posts: 1112
nice to see that hybrids will use capacitors instead of batteries in the autocar article. bolivia has 60% of the worlds Lithium and would become the new opec.There's one wheel on my wagon, but i'm still rollin' along, it's the cherokee, they're after me, but I'm singing a happy song
10th Apr 2010 11:13 pm
Zermatt Vulgaris
Member Since: 12 Jan 2009
Location: aberdeenshire
Posts: 511
read the autocar article this week and a it made a lot of sense.. for me the D4 has already moved the discovery towards a 7 seater RRS.. with similar suspension set ups and a glitzy front end.. it is also telling that the majority of the improvements made to the D4 compared with the D3 improve onroad rather than offroad performance.
hopefullu the FFRR will look better than the FFRR mock ups ..... looks like a FL2 that's bulked.Visiting from rrsport.co.uk
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) will have to cover the job of at basic current Defender and the HSE D3 (the D4 being somewhat a RRS 7 seater already)
