| Author |
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KJ
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 04:15 pm: | 
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As I was waiting for my servicing today, a Sales Guide was discussing the changes, or rumored changes, on both the new Discos and Range Rovers. Maybe I've missed this in reading here, but he said both vehicles *might* be lengthened by 10 inches! He said the focus groups are SCREAMING for no changes to the Disco, but he didn't seem to know if anyone was listening. Not a WORD about anything except competing with the luxury SUV class. Not a sylable about any off-roading interests at all, just market share chat. Certainly CDL was not mentioned! I don't think the man he was talking to would have known what a CDL was. Ford WAS mentioned, within the context of their changes to Jaguar, and what people loved and hated about those changes (design changes).
He said the first of these big LR models might come as early as December this year, though that sounded like it could be the Rangie. The changes to the RR sound far more committed to (assuming this guy knows anything, and he DID say some of this was speculation on his part) than any changes to the Disco, save the new front lights and grill. He said they would be trying for the big SUV market, though not *quite* as big as the Expedition. He said the Freelander has been selling briskly. All of this was about competing in the wider market, none of it was about preserving what Land Rover is all about. I found it all quite disturbing and I hope he's wrong. Mind you, I wasn't speaking with him, he was conversing with a customer he obviously knew well. Neither seemed the least bit concerned about the changes. I was. 
All the while the background noise was the huge video display running the history of Land Rover. WTF?
Karen |
KJ
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 04:21 pm: |
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P.S. This longer LR is supposed to compete with some other make/model (Acura? MDX? I can't remember, but he said they were getting slammed in sales by this other maker) that has a more functional third row seat. The idea is, move the second seat further back for more leg room, and then have a "kids" type third row seat, too. Replaces jump seats I guess. All due to market share...
Karen |
Eric N (Grnrvr)
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 04:32 pm: |
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Makes me glad that I got mine when I did.  They can mess them up all they want now.. Doesn't make a difference to me. Hell, they could use the ford tarus platform and make a million Discoverys off of it for all I care.. I got mine already. The only other thing that would get me to buy a second land rover would be if they brought back the D90 soft top untouched (no ifs, irs, and all that other crud) and hardly changed. I don't like anything that they are currently offering.. D2's are nice and all but, I don't want one and I don't really like them either.. I'm perfectly happy with my 98 D1. LR has already gone down hill with the new Rangie I'm sure that is just a start to the down ward ski slope of being a car just a little higher off the ground. |
Carl E. Cedeholm (Cederholm)
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 04:47 pm: |
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Karen,
The April 2002 (recent issue) of Automobile has the new RR.
I would love to see an Acura take that test drive.
Have a look.
Carl |
steveII
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 06:23 pm: |
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kj
the new rangie is 10" longer than the last
model - there was talk of a long wheel base
disco hse as well - but they might wait
until the disco IIIa/ IV before that happens.
steveII |
KJ
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 08:28 pm: |
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Steve, guess I haven't been paying attention to the RR model changes. I dunno, a LWB Disco just seems.....weird.
Carl, I hope you are right about the RR still being worth something off-road. I just hate to see market share wag the tail of the dog, but to mix metaphors, that horse may have already left the barn. I realized as I sat there listening, that even though I'm not an off-roader (yet), my heart is there. As they were extolling the virtues of competing with the land yachts, I felt like the odd man out. I know the Sales Guides have to make a buck, but it all made me feel queasy. I felt like our little world here on DiscoWeb was an island.
Karen |
Dave
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 09:16 pm: |
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It appears to me that Rover would be getting pressure for a rig that "comfortably" seats 7. In fact, I was at my dealer this morning getting the DII recall fixed, and a woman came in asking one of the sales guides why the RA-RO didn't seat 7.
After some thought, it would make market sense for LR to build something more akin to a suburban or the Ford version...
I think the latest issue of LRO (if memory serves) that's in Barnes and Noble has an offroad test of the new Rangie and they of course rave about it. The whole suspension set-up is kinda cool, even though it is independant. They still incorporate the air shocks somehow. |
Patrick Hartigan (Patrick)
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 10:04 am: |
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I'm with Eric on this one. The can F**k it up all they want now, I've got mine. And I think the 02 Range looks stupid. I don't care what the automags say, I'd take a classic series over one of those. |
Glenn Guinto (Glenn)
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 11:20 am: |
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Karen,
I think that sales guide that you overheard is your typical KIA (Know-It-All) person. Based on your post above, he's probably just bs-ing with the customer so they can give him (and his dealership) a high score when LRNA calls. If these changes are indeed true, I want to echo your comments... "WTF!"
glenn |
SOLO
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 01:17 pm: |
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If LR want's to compete in the large vehicle market, all they have to do is bring back the 110's unchanged and they will blow everything else away. Unfortunatly it would cut into the exploder and expedition sales which Ford doesn't want.
Larry |
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