Will the new LR Defender be a work horse?

[Drift]

The new Defender is announced and due out 2015, will it be the work horse they promise or will it be loaded with technology ?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14726189

[Big Dav]

Looks like a cross between a Skoda Yeti and one of the Toyota FJ. Hopefully it will be good, so long as Landrover can sort out there electronics.
Many expeditionists choose older models in the LR range of vehicles which don't rely on the electronics to run.
Read somewhere recently that there is nothing worse than being miles off the beaten track and a very minor sensor failure shuts the whole car down or causes it to run on a "get-you-home" mode.

[RatCav]

Looks like a Nissan Cube

[BoxCleva]

The first farmer that buys ones of them in our valley will be absolutely ridiculed.

[Rich]

There is no way in the world a proper farmer is going to buy one of those

on a working farm the 4x4 is used as a tool i couldn't see a couple of bails of straw and a dog or two in the back of that

[4x4 bobby]

Would'nt last a week on a real working farm! Got to say i think it looks bloody horrible!

[Drift]

We have to remember the one pictured is only the concept car and they do tend to be a bit overkill style wise, that said I quite like it, it kinda reminds me of a Toyota FJ bodywise.

[adyclemo]

really don't like it, the defender is what i would class a work horse/serious off roader, the disco is work horse/offroader/school run motor, the freelander is a school run/evryday run about etc and the range rover is a car for someone that just likes luxury.

[woodwizzard]

Could still be a workhorse and loaded with tech. Farmers don't care as long as it does its job. When they go wrong, the dealer picks'em up and leaves them another to use whilst fixing theirs. I see plenty of disco 3's used hard as work vehicles. They are what they are to different folks, something to be looked after or something to be looked after and worked hard to earn its keep.

As Ste said, it will be "based" on the concept car, so will probably look nothing like it

[BoxCleva]

They need to do something to stop the exodus from the Landy marque as the vast majority of farmers down here have L200's /Navara's or Ford Rangers. Very few Landy's these days.

[gregster]

Same down ere Si....most of the farms run mitsi's, yotas etc...

I think that food price increases have meant that farmers can make more money farming, leaving less time for fixing stuff, hence the move from the overpriced, overrated and under reliable Landys...

[woodwizzard]

Of course, if they don't do a truck cab version, they will sell very few as workhorses. Double-cabs are a bargain I think. Such a versatile vehicle. Having a defender 90 around these parts is almost a tradition, mind you, they are stuck in the past in many ways

[RatCav]

You know I read "Defender" this morning and for some reason my mind automatically registered Discovery and the picture confirmed it ... now I know that the picture is of a Defender I really do wonder about the wisdom of LR. They have indeed made it too soft looking. People buy a Defender because they know it doesn't matter if a door gets dented etc. Swaths of carpets, grainy dash, and electronics are just going to get muddy, torn, damaged and generally get in the way.

[snapper]

Let a squaddy loose across Soltau with one for a month, bet it won't even even last the first week, could you drag a dead chieftain bridge layer across the tank yard with one? No didnt think so...

Seen it done with a FFR Defender though. That said, it did end up sat in the workshops next to the tank a month later with a knacked clutch

[furball]

Can't see the off-road side of the green oval community thinking much of it, it looks far too soft

[Gazeddy]

Looking at that not a serious one. But LR is now owned by Tata who make work horses they may be trying to shift defender to luxury