https://photos.app.goo.gl/yVYRPAN48B2DmPw86

No engine present just a small electric motor and the chassis was made our of box section but otherwise I assume it’s as per a production vehicle

Is it a 1:1 model, or are all the bits people can actually see/touch off of the production lines?

It’s some form of pre production mule/show off vehicle, 1:1 scale. It’s from another plant so I’m not exactly sure of it’s purpose

Looks alright!
It does remind me of the Skoda yeti & Kia Soul though.
Some impressive tech on these, but it worries me about long term durability.

Those pics make it look better than the offical ones at the launch!

Still a shame its a chelsea tractor rather than a serious comercial vehicle.

looks like a giant Mini Clubman IMO…

thisisnotaspoon

There’s commercial ones in the pipeline I believe

There’s commercial ones in the pipeline I believe

Aimed ir35 dodgers who buy a disco comercial, then send it to have leather seats and electric windows installed because the tax breaks make it cheaper than buying the normal one.

Those pics make it look better than the offical ones at the launch!

I thought that.

It’ll only be a real defender if you can clean the inside with careful use of a jet wash.

Jeez that’s worse than I thought it was going to be. Looks like a jelly moulded upscaled Kia Soul with added britpop bling.

Hopefully it can do this and replace the hilux conversion work stuck us with.

Just looks cheap, which it isnt!

Some impressive tech on these, but it worries me about long term durability.

Good friends of mine have a 2 year old RR Sport that has broken down for the 5th time (simply stops running while moving) – it’s been handed back to the dealers as unfit for purpose and won’t be returning.
This is the third person I know in the last 12 months that has handed their RR back early because of poor reliability.
If they can’t make a £100k car reliable then I’d not hold out much hope for the ‘cheaper’ versions.

Don’t you (didn’t someone)  have to sign an NDA before pre-production stuff turns up 🙂

Good friends of mine have a 2 year old RR Sport that has broken down for the 5th time (simply stops running while moving)

The reliability surveys show RR is a dismal light – most other manufacturers common faults as reported by owners are ‘A light comes on – you have to get to the garage in limp home mode – costs a few hundred to get you back on the road’. With RR a typical breakdown as reported by owners is “It stops and refuses to move. You have to wait for a tow truck. It cost £3k to get it back.

I saw a new Defender driving down the M5 near Gloucester early (7.30 am) yesterday morning. Presumably one of the development cars? Was undisguised. The main impression was that it was quite big compared to the old defender.

Given the old defender has dimensions that in some way date back to 1948, i think it’s safe to say the new one was always going to be bigger!

Poor reliability, model proliferation, poor value for money, dubious environmental footprint. I wish them every success but fear the worse. My first car was a Defender and I have owned 6 90s and 110s over the years. I loved every single one despite their many faults because of the ‘character’ of them. I would be slightly less forgiving of this one. I do understand the need to keep the iconic name alive, but this bears very little resemblance to the Defender and meets a different market need. Maybe I am just getting a bit jaded but the brand is starting to lose its appeal given all of the above points. Shame, but time does seem to be beating them. I can’t think of a single person I know that owns any of their products that would buy one again due to reliability alone, let alone everything else.

It will be quite ironic if the Ineos Grenadier lands up killing the New Defender in its home market.

It’s built on the same line as discovery and range rover so is essentially the same platform.

They were never going to make a rough and ready work truck again, they aren’t set up production wise for that and can make fatter profit margins on this.

Like the “new mini” and “new beetle” it’s a completely different car trading on whimsical legend and history.

Cheap Japanese pickups have the world market for rough and ready work trucks. There is little margin in these really especially if you need to build a new line for it.

The Ineos Grenadier if it ever appears will be an expensive rough and ready work truck, I doubt there is much market for those – Toyota don’t sell their Landcruiser pickup variations in europe.

The Santana PS10 then called Iveco Massif never did particularly well and that was a Land Rover derivative.

But if I was Iveco I’d be looking to punt on the rights to the Massif to Ineos……

I have always quite fancied a L.Rover and my neighbour opposite me has a fairly new Disco. He has had a stand in disco on the drive at least 4 times since mid summer already whilst his has been in getting work done.

I find it staggering people pay such a large amount of money for something that fails to deliver the reliability of even a Dacia.

Just been on the LR website & managed to spec one up to £105k!!

The Massif was crippled at birth: it was essentially a LR series III with some dubious bodywork. There was little surprise when FCA killed it and went down the rebadged L200 route.

I think there is a place for a high quality, high tech, extreme off-road-capable, true utility vehicle. merc seem to keep healthy waiting lists for the Unimog. I suspect what we’ll get though is a G-wagon AMG competitor with the reliability of a freelander 1.