That's not really a surprise, is it?
Not really. Nonetheless I was still hoping that it would be a modern interpretation. But it's sounding more likely that it's going to get the same corporate face that the rest of the line has.
The Toyota FJ had a modern interpretation and sold well at first but is now gone. The Wangler has continued to follow the traditional look and it's done them well. The new Discovery really doesn't look like it's a continuation but more like the new Range Roverish face, I'm sure it will sell well for newer buyers. I agree the new Defender will look more like the new corporate direction.
Fingers crossed we will all be wrong but after reading that Q&A it doesn't look promising.
The FJ is an interesting creature. obviously Toyota didn't see the business case to keep it around in the US (it was still sold elsewhere until very recently IIRC). But for the past few years used ones have been selling at or over their MSRP when new.
The FJ is an interesting creature. obviously Toyota didn't see the business case to keep it around in the US (it was still sold elsewhere until very recently IIRC). But for the past few years used ones have been selling at or over their MSRP when new.
I have one as a daily driver and I don't see selling it any time soon. 08 with 66k miles on the clock and I just swapped in new struts, shocks and added the ARB rack.
Its definitely not this: http://www.brp.ca/off-road/defender.html
I predict late 2019 for the Defender, one year after Jeep sells their production version of the Africa concept.
And then who cares if the Defender is not like it used to be, right? We will have what we want in a Jeep Africa...And LR won't have to listen to us bemoan the fact that they betrayed the heritage of the Defender.
I know this... what has been shown is what it will be. It will be only slightly different because it will need to be factory produced. But if they show it at a show, that's pretty much it.
The new Wrangler Unlimited has been around since 2007. FJ Cruiser has come and gone. 4Runner has been crushing it since before the DC100.