prcscct wrote:I picked up some words from the TV while passing by today to the effect...."The Defender stopped production due to EU regulations coming out of Brussels...." Is that true!? That would be enough for me to vote "out". Pete
All down to emission regulations Pete. I would have thought that the Defender engine etc. could have been modified to meet regulations, but perhaps not cost effective?
Still, a sad end to a great machine....
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
Yes, the 2020 European emission rules are what is being quoted as the problem. I cannot really follow this as since 2012 the Defender has used a version of the Ford 2.2 liter Ford Duratorq diesel engine. This is the same engine as used in several other vehicles, the current Ford Ranger being one of them.
I guess that it is just not exhaust emissions per se, but other rules such as fuel consumption, are also taken into account.
It may also have something to do with the body construction, such as crumple zones and protruding sharp parts of the body.
Land Rover owners will tell you that the other car is your crumple zone!
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
I believe that the decision was basically commercial in that the more upmarket models, Range Rovers, Discoveries and Evoques are more profitable and less labour intensive to produce. In a few years they'll come out with a retro styled "Land Rover" model based on a modern platform for people to pose around in that'll cost a fortune!
2012 updates:
In August 2011, Land Rover announced an update of the Defender for the 2012 model year.[9] By this time, Land Rover had publicly acknowledged that it was working on a project to produce an all-new replacement for the Defender. This would lead to the unveiling of the first DC100 concept vehicle in September that year. While emissions and safety regulations have threatened the Defender since the early 2000s, these had either been avoided through "grandfather rights", or Land Rover had found ways to modify the vehicle to economically meet the new requirements. However, safety regulations due for introduction in 2015 requiring minimum pedestrian safety standards and the fitment of airbags to commercial vehicles cannot be met without a wholesale redesign of the Defender.
The Land Rover DC100 (Defender Concept 100") was an off-road concept vehicle from Land Rover originally intended to demonstrate what the vehicle that will replace the long-running Defender in 2015 will look like. The DC100 was first unveiled to the public in September 2011 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Rover_DC100
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
I notice that Mercedes are still managing to sell G-wagons that meet all these new regulations with a product not that different from a Defender. They also still sell many to militaries around the world where these regulations don't apply.
That would be enough for me to vote "out".
Pete
