Land Rover has revealed that when the 2015 Defender arrives it will be a world car and sold in the USA.
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So it’s not a huge surprise that Land Rover has revealed that the new Defender will be sold around the world, including in the US, where Land Rover Defenders haven’t been sold for fifteen years.
We’re not really going to know exactly how Land Rover plan to market their two ranges – Land Rover and Range Rover – until the all new range of cars finishes rolling out over the next few years. It looks as though the Land Rover cars are going to be marketed as ‘Lifestyle’ cars and Range Rover as ‘Luxury’, with a much clearer differentiation between the two brands than now (where there is real blurring of the lines).
That will make the Sport version of the new Defender a funky lifestyle statement – a Discovery for the kids – with the Discovery 5 a family lifestyle statement. Much as now but with a much bigger emphasis placed on the differences.
Whether the news that the 2015 Defender is going to be sold in the US includes the more utilitarian version – the DC100 – we don’t know. It seems Land Rover want the non-Sport Defender to inherit the mantle from the current Defender and are to build it in India to better serve its core market.
But whether the DC100 as well as the DC100 Sport makes it to the US or not, Land Rover are going to have to work hard to market the Defender to an American public. Still, they’ve managed a hit with the Range Rover Evoque – which is not only expensive but barely accommodates the average American – so the 2015 should be a doddle of a marketing exercise.
Ken says
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