|>> R. David Steele wrote:
|>>> Why can't the US get Defender 90s, 110s and 130s?
|>>
|>> The main problem is that LR and Ford's marketing dept have trouble
|>> seeing where they wouls fit in to the US market. They would be
|>> smaller than many US pick-ups but would be more expensive to buy.
|>> They do not have the comfort and luxury of a typical US pick-up and
|>> most of the market demands this. The sheer utility of a Defender and
|>> the off-road ability would of course be superior to most pick-ups
|>> but perhaps still not create a large enough market to make them
|>> viable. LR continually say the no longer sell Defenders in the US
|>> because of emmissions and passenger airbag issues - this of course
|>> is nonsense as they sell thousands of Discoverys with exactly the
|>> same engine and emmissions and fitting a passenger airbag is not
|>> beyond the engineering wit of Lode Lane either. On the upside, the
|>> US will definitely get the new Defender based on the T5 chassis in a
|>> few years, so you'll have to hang on.
|>
|> Word was that we were going to get the TD6, not the TD5. And you
|> forget that we have a midsize and compact size pickup market.
|> All most all the big trucks have smaller brothers.
|>
|I realise that, but the market for a Defender in the US that is the same
|size as the smaller pick-ups but costs more than the full-size ones is still
|thought to be very limited by LR. Maybe they are wrong. The TD6 is also too
|expensive to fit to Defenders and has already been dropped by Ford as it is
|a BMW engine and they don't like buying outside. You should however get the
|new Ford-Peugeot 2.7 V6 diesel jointly developed for the new Discovery which
|has 200bhp and 300lb-ft of torque.
|
|>>>
|>>> Why can't we have diesel powered Landies?
|>>>
|>> The two biggest problems are that US diesel is very porr quality
|>> with a high sulfur content and modern high-tech turbo-diesels won't
|>> swallow it. The other problem is that petrol is cheap and there in
|>> very little diesel-car culture in the states yet. It would however
|>> be great to drive a 30mpg TD5 in the states so you can tell all the
|>> tree-huggers who think you drive a gas-guzzling SUV to **** off!
|>
|> We have low sulfur diesel now. I have a VW Jette TDI back in the
|> states. In fact the US environmental laws are far more harsh
|> than anything in Europe.
|>
|They can't be that harsh judging by the the numbers of people I see over
|there driving round in 6.8 litre V10 petrol motors! I think petrol will need
|to get a lot more expensive than it is now before a real market for diesels
|in anything but large pick-ups will develop properly, rather than just a
|niche.
Too many gear heads into performance vehicles among US automotive
engineers. That is the real problem.
We do have a large diesel market, truck based. And people are
now wanting diesels in the smaller pickups. They also want a
pickup that is tough. Most US pickups will not take the abuse
that the LD Defender will take. Besides we have too many Toyota
pickups anyway.
|> BTW, Jeep is suppose to sell the Liberty with the Mercedes Common
|> Rail Diesel but that not yet happened.
|>
|There are no technical reasons why you should not have a big choice of
|diesels - it's the marketing departments of the motor manufacturers who
|don't believe the market exists or you would already have them.
|
|>>> And why doesn't the US military use the Defender as a basic, and
|>>> cheaper, vehicle for the average troops?
|>>
|>> Politically, it is very difficult for the US to procure non-domestic
|>> military kit. Even when the US military decided they must have
|>> British Harriers, the top brass had to lie to congress and leap
|>> through all sorts of hoops to make them look American before they
|>> could purchase them. Same thing with the British Chobham armour used
|>> on all abrams tanks. The US Rangers bought some special Defenders
|>> called RSOV but I doubt they will ever figure very highly.
|>
|> LD is now part of Ford Motor Company, just as Jeep is now part of
|> Mercedes.
|
|Perception is reality I'm afraid. People see LR and think English. Maybe
|when the POTUS swaps his limo for a Jag your army will get LR's, but I
|wouldn't hold my breath!
when I tell the local cops about how British bobbies drive the
Jag XJ8, they are ready to swap their Crown Vics in for the XJ8.
Now there would be a sales tool! US folks do like to buy what
the coppers drive.
