And toy cars...

 2012 DISCOVERY 4 GS AUTO ORKNEY GREY
2012 FREELANDER 2 SD4 GS AUTO BALTIC BLUE - GONE
2011 FREELANDER 2 TD4 GS MANUAL BALI BLUE - GONE

That's a bit of a cock up if the toy cars have been released before the real thing!

Mercedes had to rush through official pics of the new S Class a few years ago, as Minichamps released the model too early! Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

parallax33 wrote:

Exclusive..

Discovery Sport

Discovery

And the second ones look to me like 19" wheels off a Discovery.

They are possibly the closest we have come to the real thing?
However, the following pic is the rendering and the mule from the LR website overlaid, quite a difference in size, which strongly indicates it is nothing more than a good render.

Warkman wrote:

itds nowhere near 100 vehicles. Don't forget when they talk about this amount of miles, that is the full car, you have to add to that the various parts testing, including carry over parts, for example, the auto gear box is subjected to a DP04 test which actually takes 18 months of continuous variable gearing testing, plus testing at Nardo and Nurburgring

taztastic wrote:

They are possibly the closest we have come to the real thing?
However, the following pic is the rendering and the mule from the LR website overlaid, quite a difference in size, which strongly indicates it is nothing more than a good render.

100% with you Paul  2012 DISCOVERY 4 GS AUTO ORKNEY GREY
2012 FREELANDER 2 SD4 GS AUTO BALTIC BLUE - GONE
2011 FREELANDER 2 TD4 GS MANUAL BALI BLUE - GONE

Warkman wrote:

. I'm afraid Land Rover has to survive and building cars that suit a narrow field wont give it the figures to carry on.
It cannot continue building for a small market, they are a global player now heading for 1 Million vehicle builds per annum

athelstan wrote:

Warkman wrote:

itds nowhere near 100 vehicles. Don't forget when they talk about this amount of miles, that is the full car, you have to add to that the various parts testing, including carry over parts, for example, the auto gear box is subjected to a DP04 test which actually takes 18 months of continuous variable gearing testing, plus testing at Nardo and Nurburgring

I did say let's conject it's 100 vehicles in the test fleet.
In fact in the latest press release by Land Rover they themselves now state that it was 181.

Therefore despite the other additional individual component tests in a laboratory/workshop/service bench testing that you mentioned Warkman (and very important and intensive they may be) we still hear from LR that the on/off "road" testing per vehicle in their test fleet still amounts to few individual tests and low mileage per DS given now that official confirmation figure of 181 vehicles.

athelstan wrote:

Warkman wrote:

. I'm afraid Land Rover has to survive and building cars that suit a narrow field wont give it the figures to carry on.
It cannot continue building for a small market, they are a global player now heading for 1 Million vehicle builds per annum

Absolutely true, the question however is can LR design in the future vehicles in accordance with their stated 3 market segments that are sufficiently attractive and reliable to sell in those volumes profitably now that they have committed themselves to new production facilities in China, India and Brazil. Only time will tell.

Plus will JLR support those vehicles with better trained official dealership technicians (I don't give a fig for dealer sales teams) and deliver a new car comprehensive nuts n bolts manufacturers warranty (minus the current miscreant caveats) for at least 5yrs from first day in service.

If production volumes for survival are critical for Land Rover, then for Jaguar, who only achieved sales of 75k units globally last year (JLR's own data) that brand must be in the intensive care unit on life support when compared to LR who are only in triage for cuts n bruises.

As both a Land Rover and Jaguar fan/driver I do live with both trepidation and hope that they deliver the goods because I am extremely disappointed with the new RRS and didn't buy, the D4 is not my cup of tea, the XF 4x4 Sportswagen pleased me immensely and I've not yet said no. The F type put a smile of my face in these mountains but her Ladyship (who has an FL2) said no because as a family it cannot take all three of us out on a summer's glorious afternoon. So maybe I'll buy another Morgan Plus4 and wait till your 2019 for a future new model Defender.

Oh, the trials and tribulations of being a JLR fan. It's JLR that should pay us for being so loyal throughout your stormy past.

The issue with Discovery Sport - from my point of view as an FL2 owner - is that if it's not a direct replacement, then I'm more likely to look elsewhere rather than just sorting out an order for a new 'Freelander 3'.

What's not to like about Discovery Sport? Well, it's a bit difficult without seeing it, but a few things spring to mind:

- the 'Discovery' name: why?
- 'the 'Sport' appendage: I'm not a footballer or a footballer's wife
- the 5+2 seats: okay, it seems to be an option, so at least that one may be swervable
- the panoramic sunroof: thanks, but I'd prefer to have a full metal roof (hopefully this will still be possible)
- the price increase for a load of gizmos: this is probably unavoidable!

Not too fussed either way with the look of the thing, although here's hoping that it doesn't look too obviously Evoke-derived.

The die-cast models are interesting - what's the silver thing on the bonnet?

If that's a production feature, it had better have a purpose rather than being the next incarnation of Gerry McGovern's quest to adorn LR models with odd, non-functional features like the gills on the front doors of Range Rover.

The way I see it, Land Rover design heritage is functional and architectural: shape follows a relatively rectilinear form designed for utility. What it shouldn't include is stuff that's added for visual effect rather than being required for purpose.

</rant>

Anyway, band-loyal fool that I am, no doubt I'll order one once they put the new engines in them. I'd miss the 'Land Rover' on the steering wheel...

Warkman
I don't have a strong desire to challenge your every point but an inaccuracy has to be corrected. I live in what the inhabitants here believe to be the centre of Western Europe, Switzerland, and our new vehicle Land Rover factory warranty is 3yrs or 100,000kms whichever comes first. If change is on its way then hallelujah - about time.

Presently in our market every major manufacturer with a vehicle that challenges the Freelander2 (Volvo, Audi, BMW, VW, Jeep + plus some unmentionable Asian brands that steal sales from the FL2) offer a better factory warranty if you study their individual terms and conditions i.e length of warranty time or distance, inclusions or exclusions etc. Land Rover are behind the curve here and not in the vanguard of customer reassurance.

You previously stated that JLR are I quote: "a global player now heading for 1 million vehicle build per annum". If that is so your 88k sales of the newly launch RR & RRS will have to start flying out of the showrooms very soon on current global sales performance. 2013 the company JLR officially sold less than 360k units, therefore you'll have to gallop pretty rapidly to break the half million barrier in 2014 - your million vehicle sales is in reality quite a few years down the line. Get to 500k first before bouncing figures of a million around. It may well be in the strategic plan but it's not even on the horizon yet and with the best goodwill in the world it won't be for some time.

For clarification - You state in your reply to my last post: "interesting comment about 19mY, not sure what you are trying to say there..." It was simply that DrRpb asked you the question re Defender - you replied "2019MY" therefore I am stating that if you are accurate on this then I will have to wait to see a new Defender model to consider to buy in "your 2019". That's all.

@ Vanoord

re - Losing the Freelander name

LR should have ditched the Freelander name when the FL2 was announced. Back in 2007 when I ordered my FL2 for March 2008 delivery I couldn't believe the number of people who laughed when I told them what I was having - the original Freelander had a bad name for reliability and despite the FL2 being a whole new vehicle the name alone had a stigma that couldn't be lost.

Whilst the FL2 has undoubtably been a hit for LR I think the way they want the DS to be perceived (a high end 'not quite Range Rover territory' vehicle) they couldn't increase the price and still call it a Freelander. Now - 2017 BMW X3 M Sport Carbon Black
Gone - 2014 BMW X3 M Sport Space Grey, faultless!
Gone - 2011 Freelander 2 SD4 HSE Bali Blue with xenons
Gone - 2008 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE Rimini Red with bodykit

shilen
Quote: "LR should have ditched the Freelander name when the FL2 was announced."

I absolutely agree.
Retaining the model name Freelander was, and has been, a huge detriment to the sales of the FL2. It has never reached its full sales potential. Car buyers have long memories and are not very forgiving.

vanoord wrote:

T

1 - the 'Discovery' name: why?
2 - 'the 'Sport' appendage: I'm not a footballer or a footballer's wife
3 - the 5+2 seats: okay, it seems to be an option, so at least that one may be swervable
4 - the panoramic sunroof: thanks, but I'd prefer to have a full metal roof (hopefully this will still be possible)
5 - the price increase for a load of gizmos: this is probably unavoidable!

.

1 - Because LR are re-branding the range into three individual brands

Discovery - Leisure (Discovery Sport - Discovery '5' - Discovery......Land Cruiser Equivenent)
Range Rover - Luxury (Evoque - Sport - Vogue)
Defender - Multi Purpose

Make perfect sense for a brand to be used world wide

2 - I see where your coming from, but it's not a bad name and won't be used by the WAGS as it will be too cheap

3 - 5 seats and two boot mounted 6 & 7 is standard. No 5 seats option. this is unique to the class

4 - Sunroof will be optional and standard on higher spec cars. The two discovery Sports I have seen, one had a full metal roof.

5 - Know one knows yet where the prices will start, it is pure speculation, but I imagine it will start a little higher than FL2. Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........