Tata plan to build new Defender in India, not UK - from 2015

[RogerL]

Just seen elsewhere the above story - as the new Defender will be based on a similar platform to the Discovery and RR Sport replacements they could be built in India as well - the new Range Rover is based on a Jaguar platform so that could be built at Castle Bromwich - engines will be made in Wolverhampton.
Could this be the end of Solihull, sold for housing?

 

[otherclive]

Doesn't it make sense for Tata to build where there is a market for sales both in India, China and Asia? Since Tata already build Freelander 2s in India it's no big deal to build the new Defender in the same plant. I would assume that they will still build in UK for the home, European and US markets as they are expanding their UK engine and build facilities and busily recruiting staff. In a global market with global cars changes are inevitable and JLR are a sucess story, as are Nissan, Honda and Toyota too.

 

[Dustydog]

Roger
I heard last June there was a possibility Tata may open an assembly line in Pune to build the Range Rover , Freelander for export and Indian markets. Apparently there is a 100% import duty payable by their locals.
Maybe Tata can see a big future saving??
I hope Solihull doesn't get messed up. Mind you it seems odd they have recently made plans to expand the Jaguar output with 500 new jobs available.

 

[otherclive]

Seeing the Autocar interview wiith Tata's Chairman it seems as if Defender will be built at Pune and then exported back to UK (Europe too) as a way of increasing sales by getting prices down. Seeing that Japanese pickups have taken a large part of what used to traditionally be Defender territory, and military sales have fallen Tata's stategy would make sense. UK will still be central to JLR strategy regards design - development centre and build of Disco, FL2, Evoque and big RR. Interview did not say where North American and future South American exports wil be built.
I long for the day when every news report showing UN vehicles in humanitarian roles shows a Land Rover instead of a Land Cruiser.

 

[xtrailman]

TaTa already have most of the steel industry, so why not everything else?
Starting work in a era when sheffield ruled the world in steel, and Britain actually had its own car industry, i find all these things very depressing.
Just grateful my working life is over.
Mean while we give India hand outs??

 

[RogerL]

I long for the day when every news report showing UN vehicles in humanitarian roles shows a Land Rover instead of a Land Cruiser.

LR haven't had the desire to build trucks that tough for a long time - I'm sure they could do it if they put their mind to it though.

 

[Martin24]

The quality might improve then!!! LR could produce anything as tough as a land Cruiser if they had a mind to but they just don't seem to care about that anymore and are more interested in money spinning blingmobiles like that new thing with the RR badge.

 

[weejock]

Let's just hope nothing vital is controlled by voice command then

 

[RogerL]

Let's just hope nothing vital is controlled by voice command then

Drivers would need to put on an accent like Rangi Ram (played by Michael Bates) in "It Ain't Half Hot Mum"

 

[Surfer]

Unfortunately with UK workers going on strike for even higher wages has done them no favours which is why a lot of manufacturing has moved overseas as labour, one of the main costs or ingredients of manufacturing is cheaper. 0
We used to be big LR fans when we lived in Southern Africa, but reliability became a serious consideration plus price of spares etc. We started buying Toyotas and have never looked back and doubt if we would buy another LR product even if it became the most reliable vehicle on the planet.

 

[otherclive]

On Saturday we went down to see a late Defender 110 from a LR franchise who had not replied to our valuation request. Anyway we could not see the car with only 6k on the clock as it was in the workshop being fixed. This is a 60 reg with just over 6000 miles on the clock. So we looked at a new Defender XS, and my wife , who does not normally comment in details on cars, spotted the poor quality soldering and connectors on the rear screen heater, and whilst supping coffee noticed that the bonnet did not close properly. Me knowing everything reckoned that it was not closed properly and was on its safety catch. So I freed the bonnet catch from inside the car and lifted the bonnet then dropped it about 1 foot. Still the same, you could see a 1 inch gap and all spring latch mechanism inside. This was a brand new unregistered showroom car.
Needless to say OH has now firmly stated that if I want LR it had better be an old one just for a hobby as no way was the XC 70 being traded against a newish Defender. Must say she was'nt too impressed with the rust around the vents on an 03 Defender either , comments such as 'Son in laws old Toyota Surf knocks spots off that!' So back to the drawing board for moi.

 

[seth1]

Buts lets face it these things were designed for farmers to carry sheep in the back of them.What do people expect,to compare with a Volvo in comfort terms you need to look at a disco.They are very good at what they need to do.I cant understand the thought of engine choice though,why not offer up to 3 litres?

 

[RogerL]

Before WW2, the tractors used in UK were very poor - during WW2 many tractors were imported from USA and Canada and were a big improvement - after WW2, the UK tractor makers were struggling to get going. The original LandRover was conceived into this scenario to take on many of the farm tasks other than ploughing.
Things have changed a lot in 70 years, modern tractors have huge amounts of power and small buggies give farmers the utility they want. There's little place left in agriculture for a LandRover - so where can they sell it - against the Japanese medium-sized pickups, that's a really big ask.

 

[seth1]

Not really,because small buggies cant pull trailers to market and farmers still have a passion with them.Shame really because the quality is still there,proper chassis,proper axles,aluminium body,nice wiring-no really daft ecu,s.Can handle large wieghts,but sadly nobody cares about stuff as detailed as this anymore.

 

[ZeGecko]

Land Rover and an Indian company called TAT-----a sounds like a marriage made in heaven

 

[Martin24]

On Saturday we went down to see a late Defender 110 from a LR franchise who had not replied to our valuation request. Anyway we could not see the car with only 6k on the clock as it was in the workshop being fixed. This is a 60 reg with just over 6000 miles on the clock. So we looked at a new Defender XS, and my wife , who does not normally comment in details on cars, spotted the poor quality soldering and connectors on the rear screen heater, and whilst supping coffee noticed that the bonnet did not close properly. Me knowing everything reckoned that it was not closed properly and was on its safety catch. So I freed the bonnet catch from inside the car and lifted the bonnet then dropped it about 1 foot. Still the same, you could see a 1 inch gap and all spring latch mechanism inside. This was a brand new unregistered showroom car.
Needless to say OH has now firmly stated that if I want LR it had better be an old one just for a hobby as no way was the XC 70 being traded against a newish Defender. Must say she was'nt too impressed with the rust around the vents on an 03 Defender either , comments such as 'Son in laws old Toyota Surf knocks spots off that!' So back to the drawing board for moi.

No it doesn't shut but what OH has to realise is that we don't buy a Defender with our heads but our hearts. OH here said no way to all the alternatives XC90, Shogun, Toerag, X5, M class, Disco, Q7, Landcruiser and I'm sure some others we've forgotten all about. Oh and boy have we tackled some snow off road today and waved at others.

 

[seth1]

Yeah and for every bad one there is ten good ones.I run Fiats,have done for years and so have the generations before me.Supposedly the worst of the worst.What little troopers they,ve been for us.

 

[otherclive]

Seth, don't get me wrong I think the Defender is a great machine annd an icon, but when you see shortcomings in a showroom model then I get very disappointed that unlike most other industries LR Defender has not really improved quality over many years. Until the Puma engined Defender came out in 2007 you could still expect your Defender to corrode around the vents and down into the bulkhead and footwells. Hence the 03 Defender that I mentioned above. It was SW variant, so not your old farmers hack, but underneath the screen rust had broken right through. The rear outriggers were also in need of some serious attention. Rear diff, transfer box and gearbox all showed signs of oil leakage.
The comparison with Fiat is barely relevant. I had a Mirafiori 131 which had a cracking engine and was streets ahead of the equivalent Fords of that era. But boy did it rot. But Fiat recognised the problems with their cars and from the Tipo onwards quality improved. In fact the Tipo was a far better car than the Golf of its day, but like Skoda at the time, Fiat were hamstrung by their prevoius history. And yes I also ran an Estelle for a trouble free 95000 miles!!

 

[seth1]

Quite possibly though Clive other people dont share your view especially when LR demand outstrips supply.My comparison was aimed to show that Fiat,regarded by some to be crap just like LR have been perfectly good vehicles giving good service.Afar cry from TAT.

 

[Surfer]

Quite possibly though Clive other people dont share your view especially when LR demand outstrips supply.My comparison was aimed to show that Fiat,regarded by some to be crap just like LR have been perfectly good vehicles giving good service.Afar cry from TAT.

TBH I think the above only refers to the UK. Landrover have lost ground in Africa and are at the bottom of the list when it comes to buying 4 x 4s. Where my son works in Africa all the LRs have been replaced by Toyota Amazons of a vareity not found in the UK as the LRs were found to be very unreliable and thoseLRs are based on the Defender chassis. They cannot even sell the LRs as no one wants to buy them and they are lying around the camp rotting.
Years ago in the sixties and seventies I won't not have looked at any other vehicle except a LR as they were easy to fix in the bush when miles from civilasation. Today you cannot do that due to the amount of electronics in most 4 x 4s. Todays most 4 x 4s pander to the wants of people and not the terrain for which they were originally designed.

 

[otherclive]

Taking up Seth's point my comments referred only to Defender not the other successful LR models. Just looking at LR dealers I have visited recently two had no Defender available even to view. I subscribe to LROM and whilst the Defender scene is very active the reports show Defender production going down.