Light Utility Vehicles; Whats left after the Defender goes?
Discussion
So when the Defender goes what's left? What's the hill farmer going to buy where they can throw a couple of hay bales and the odd sheep in the back and then use the same vehicle to tow a trailer 200 miles round trip to the market? Apart from pickup trucks there doesn't seem to be much left:
Auverland / Panhard have given up on the civilian market.
UMM stopped manufacture in 2004
Santana closed down in 2011.
The only one I can think of that's similar to the Defender is the Ibex; The manufacturer still seems to be going but I have only ever seen one at a show. I doubt they produce many of them. I guess they could at least take up the requirement for people like utility companies who use the 130.
Perhaps it's time for Toyota to sell the J70 Land Cruiser pickup in the UK?
Auverland / Panhard have given up on the civilian market.
UMM stopped manufacture in 2004
Santana closed down in 2011.
The only one I can think of that's similar to the Defender is the Ibex; The manufacturer still seems to be going but I have only ever seen one at a show. I doubt they produce many of them. I guess they could at least take up the requirement for people like utility companies who use the 130.
Perhaps it's time for Toyota to sell the J70 Land Cruiser pickup in the UK?
Lefty said:
Can you still buy Santanas in this country?
I know a (very) rural electrician who drives a 4motion transporter on BFG AT tyres...that's an interesting combination but ground clearance and approach/departure angles are nowhere close to a Defender.
As mentioned in the original post Santana closed down in 2011. They did a deal with Iveco which went tits up.I know a (very) rural electrician who drives a 4motion transporter on BFG AT tyres...that's an interesting combination but ground clearance and approach/departure angles are nowhere close to a Defender.
I would be amazed if the don't ship the production liine overseas
And start making them again hopefully with better engines and build quality
Land rovers are more a lifestyle vehicle ,most farmers have something better and a
ATV like a JD gator or Kawasaki mule to go on the land as they don't cut it up
Like a road going 4x4 does,
I would doubt the 78 series cruisers would comply with the euro
Regs on pedestion safety etc and who would need something
That strong and rugged over here We don't have the harsh conditions to warrent it
hence
The defenders were good enough ...
And start making them again hopefully with better engines and build quality
Land rovers are more a lifestyle vehicle ,most farmers have something better and a
ATV like a JD gator or Kawasaki mule to go on the land as they don't cut it up
Like a road going 4x4 does,
I would doubt the 78 series cruisers would comply with the euro
Regs on pedestion safety etc and who would need something
That strong and rugged over here We don't have the harsh conditions to warrent it
hence
The defenders were good enough ...
Just got rid of my 110.
The farmer whose land I have permission to shoot on has a 2012 Jap pick up, for every day use, he said years ago, Land Rover were the farmers choice, as they were easy to fix when they broke down.
But that was the rub, they broke down a lot,nowadays, he does not want the vehicle to break down at all, let alone having to fix it, hence the Jap wagon.
His everyday going out car is a new Range Rover.
I think the flat capped,old short jacket, and bailing cord,holding up his trousers type of farmer,is getting thin on the ground.
Very rarely see a farmer in an old car these days,and they still seem to be able to afford to treat them like s
te also.
The farmer whose land I have permission to shoot on has a 2012 Jap pick up, for every day use, he said years ago, Land Rover were the farmers choice, as they were easy to fix when they broke down.
But that was the rub, they broke down a lot,nowadays, he does not want the vehicle to break down at all, let alone having to fix it, hence the Jap wagon.
His everyday going out car is a new Range Rover.
I think the flat capped,old short jacket, and bailing cord,holding up his trousers type of farmer,is getting thin on the ground.
Very rarely see a farmer in an old car these days,and they still seem to be able to afford to treat them like s
te also.zoom star said:
Very rarely see a farmer in an old car these days,and they still seem to be able to afford to treat them like ste also.
Long standing joke in Norfolk. Although it's a rural county, it's the kind of agriculture that requires 5 blokes and a millions quids worth of machinery to run half the county. Quite different to the hill farmers of the original posts but very quick to jump on the 'struggling to make ends meet' bandwagon, even if their title happens to be 'lord something or other' te also.
There's even an old song about it (complete with accent).
Farmer on a bike.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQCnKdvChAQ
Any of a host of 4x4 raised pick ups will be good replacements. Maybe other manufacturers will bring a varied line up to the UK? I doubt it but I was recently in Trinidad and for an island with a population of just over 1m Toyota bring in and sell new the Hi-Lux, Rav4, Prado (our LC), FJ Cruiser, Land cruiser 70 (commercial) and the Fortuner (very popular there), plus a wider range of cars than we have here. There is also a large roll-on roll-off market. The Fortuner would be good here but UK buyers tend to have a narrow view of what they will buy so there isn't a huge demand for variety of models.
That's the bloody problem...
Put a toyota engine and gearbox in a defender and it will be every bit as reliable as the jap trucks but much easier to repair when it does finally break.
Land Rover as a company have a terrible snobbish attitude to the Defender's traditional market, almost as if they wish it had never existed.
Put a toyota engine and gearbox in a defender and it will be every bit as reliable as the jap trucks but much easier to repair when it does finally break.
Land Rover as a company have a terrible snobbish attitude to the Defender's traditional market, almost as if they wish it had never existed.
Snowboy said:
Farmers don't need a one-car-for-all solution anymore.
Pickup trucks carry hay and pull trailers.
Range Rovers go to town.
Specialised agricultural machinery works around the farm.
I would like to see you tell that to a hill farmer. Plenty of those who have a quad ,Land Rover and a tractor and not much else.Pickup trucks carry hay and pull trailers.
Range Rovers go to town.
Specialised agricultural machinery works around the farm.
But the Defender is being replaced by Land Rover, not dropped. Sure, it won't have a rust prone ladder chassis, bulkhead or cappings and the doors probably won't leak and the heater will work, but its intended purpose will still be to fling hay in the back or other basic uses.
It just won't have the appearance of the current vehicle and you won't be able to mount a cherry picker arm on the back or run a table saw from the PTO.
It just won't have the appearance of the current vehicle and you won't be able to mount a cherry picker arm on the back or run a table saw from the PTO.
Impasse said:
But the Defender is being replaced by Land Rover, not dropped. Sure, it won't have a rust prone ladder chassis, bulkhead or cappings and the doors probably won't leak and the heater will work, but its intended purpose will still be to fling hay in the back or other basic uses.
By removing the ladder chassis you are essentially writing it off as a serious work vehicle.
plasticpig said:
So when the Defender goes what's left? What's the hill farmer going to buy where they can throw a couple of hay bales and the odd sheep in the back and then use the same vehicle to tow a trailer 200 miles round trip to the market?
Same as they always have, a Shogun or a Jap pickup.Gassing Station | Off Road | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff