I am with pedro on this.....
Short term sales are no indication of the damage being done to brand identity. The focus of the brand is now "incredible luxury" according to the boss. What possible hope can the company have of retaining unique brand identity when every other producer can just as easily provide "incredible luxury"? Marketing is on it's head - why is the Range Rover product now priced less than the Discovery and why do the models not only look like the opposition but also look much the same as each other? Driving the company away from the hugely profitable and vast market for small SUVs is unfathomable. Sales of small SUVs are rocketing across all markets and LR now have no product to compete there, They also have no product to effectively compete in the rugged utility sector where the brand identity was originally forged. In our village we are now up to seven or eight Freelie 2s last time I counted. That whole market segment is now closed to the company and the vacuous "Premium brand" tag that the company seeks is not going to be a substitute for nurturing and retaining customer loyalty to a brand which should stand for something rather more tangible than bling and luxury.

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What possible hope can the company have of retaining unique brand identity when every other producer can just as easily provide "incredible luxury"?

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Driving the company away from the hugely profitable and vast market for small SUVs is unfathomable. Sales of small SUVs are rocketing across all markets and LR now have no product to compete there

Range Rover Evoque is a small SUV, Discovery Sport is a compact SUV.

The grand total of sales for the Defender last year was around 19000, the DS sales including orders pending are 15000 in the first few months. The market for rough tough off road vehicles is small, and the Defender as good as it is, it's uncomfortable and expensive in comparison to the Japanese offerings, which are better specced.

I agree that LR should still offer a basic off road vehicle, but to justify the expense of development they need cash, which the Range Rover line up and the Discovery Sport are bringing in by the bucket load. 21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

Last edited by j77 on 28th Apr 2015 10:54 am. Edited 1 time in total

Yanwoo wrote:

Nice! Quicker than expected.

Although, think I'd be a bit peeved if I'd bought one already and they announce this so soon after it's been launched.

Not sure if I understand what the suggested difference between a small SUV (Evoke) and Compact SUV (DS) amounts to, but fact is that there is no new LR product that one can drive away for less than £30 K - if we discount the Defender.
What has the company got to compete with all the small SUVs out there - Suzi Vitara, Scoobydo Forester, VW Tiguan, Itchypussy Outlander, Honda CRV, Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Rav 4 etc?
A Freelie 2 in the old GS trim was competitive but a DS is a whole heap more money. It may be that the recently announced price reduction is a hint of acknowledgement that many Freelie 2 owners feel abandoned by the pursuit of "premium" brand buyers.

The price reduction takes into account the loss of the 2 seats in the boot on the entry level model.

LR class the DS as compact but the Evoque, if you've ever sat in the back is a lot more than compact, it's small in fact it's tiny  21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

We were out last night and we came up behind an Evoque, my wife commented what an ugly looking car before she realised what it was and that we had one once as a courtesy car. Then made a comment about the ridiculous back window and how she would never have one. Last time i heard comments like that was when the Ford Anglia came out. (younger viewers might need to look that one up) 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Tradewind 35 wrote:

What has the company got to compete with all the small SUVs out there - Suzi Vitara, Scoobydo Forester, VW Tiguan, Itchypussy Outlander, Honda CRV, Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Rav 4 etc?
A Freelie 2 in the old GS trim was competitive but a DS is a whole heap more money. It may be that the recently announced price reduction is a hint of acknowledgement that many Freelie 2 owners feel abandoned by the pursuit of "premium" brand buyers.

I think you will find that the entry level DS is £32,395 with a great deal of difficulty getting any sort of discount. Conversely you could pick up a new FL2 for well under £25,000 last year. MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

I think you'll find the 16MY now starts at £30.6k.

The 150hp engines are only available as 5 seaters. 21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

Whoops - didn't see that on LR website. Do you have a link?? MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

You can't compare list price for one with a discounted price of another - it's not a like for like comparison. Especially when we're talking about the strategic makeup of Land Rover vehicles, and not a short term lens.

If you're considering end of line discounts for the FL2, you need to consider possible discounts for the lifetime of the DS too (which, of course, would require speculation). Hence why comparing list price with list price is more credible. FL2 2011 SD4 XS in Galway Green

On the entry price aspect;its one thing comparing the latest listed FL2 price with the launch DS price, however for many buyers the relevant price comparison is how much they paid for a new FL2 & what it would now cost for an equivalent DS.

From memory in 2007 the entry FL2 was about £23k, so about £10k less than now … a tad more than inflation increase me thinks. Life is not a dress rehearsal!

Australia 2013 Si4 Freelander $55,600 plus on road costs, DS $59,000 plus on road costs.

All up my car would have cost about $67k with the extra bits drive away but cost a bit under $55k drive away with extra bits. So all up about 18% cheaper for the Freelander as it was a run out model. Could have got another one with more things but I wanted white paint & petrol over the toys.

LR are not going to discount a new model, & why should they. The stripped down base model in manual could be a bit cheaper to get sales from other makes which are in a different price category. But I am sure LR have done a lot of research into this, & trying to get sales at the low end might damages DS sales further up the ladder.

If I wanted a cheaper car I could have got a Tiguan or Rav4 etc (God forbid!). But with all the recalls https://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/952855 the Petrol Freelander without sunroof is looking pretty good. Lets hope the DS has a perfect record. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Nick Jan wrote:

On the entry price aspect;its one thing comparing the latest listed FL2 price with the launch DS price, however for many buyers the relevant price comparison is how much they paid for a new FL2 & what it would now cost for an equivalent DS.

From memory in 2007 the entry FL2 was about £23k, so about £10k less than now … a tad more than inflation increase me thinks.