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Land Rover feeling the Heat?

AWo

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My opinion is: It seems that the Grenadier will or has in a short time satisified the 4x4 enthusiasts scene....and there is no modell to compensate if its entry into the normal consumer market will run not so well....add the problems and it may explain the situation.


1707312532347.png



My opinion to the problems is, despite hiring experts from the automotive market and industry (what Ineos did), starting a new car, even if you take existing parts and plug them together, means you have to go through a tough engineering learning curve. Building a car is one of the most complex things in industry to do. That's what Tesla went through and even EM had to admit that building cars the conventional way is still the right way to do it (if you remeber what EM said years ago: that he wants to do everything different) BTW, Tesla gets slowly into trouble as Hertz, Sixt, and companies (like SAP with 29000 company cars) have kicked out Teslas from their fleets and BYD has become #1 in many countries and even in Germany VW is superior to Tesla now. EM decreasing the price several times in the past months was maybe a good tactical decision, but a bad strategic one. However, Tesla was kept up by the spirit of EM and his "enfant terrible" attitude and the hyped E-car market in general and there was and is much more money behind it than at Ineos.

If you look at other companies, building small batches of cars, you can see that they use existing platforms and add their stuff. And even this causes a lot of problems, but far less as if you start at point zero.

Ineos has increased the price without offering more. That is something which doesn't work for customers. Customers are willing to pay less for the same or pay the same for more or pay more for more. I do not talk about absolue enthusiasts, like we can all see here. But that is a far too small customer base for a complete new development of a car. I told guys from Ineos once, to start cheap (I saw end of 40k, beginning of 50K), with low entrance models and to give the customer the chance to upgrade (at their will) and to have potential for Ineos upgrades (with price increases) and facelifts, etc. to justify an increased price. But they decided to jump in at a very high price. Then they increased the price without offering more (and at the same time firefighting a lot of problems). So where is room for improvement without going far over 100K? And will that mean another price increase?

The question is, if IA can survive this learning curve (from the financial point of view and their reputation). Even if JR is very rich, he never ever would risk his private money. And the money invested must be backed up, either by banks, the chemical business (which struggles) or whatever....IA is a business unit within Ineos, it is managed by (already existing) Ineos managers, so there is Ineos money in.... And who or whatever backs this up, is watching closely.

AWo
 
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And IHMO the "off-road tehcnology" is worth nothing.
We have tested it in snow and it's terrible, 30 and 60 years older Land Rovers did beat it 6-0!

Terrible in snow? Really? My 2022 Defender 90 is quite the opposite. Did you have the right tyres? l've had 5 old type Defenders and this one is at least a match in snow and ice.

The only downside is the weight, our Jimny does better as it's so light. But the old Defender was the same in that respect.

Snow is forecast tomorrow here so l'll get a chance to test it out again, and this time it's on the standard road tyres, not my Winter Wheels and tyres. l'll report back!
 

Tom109

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My wife still loves the new 90. I could see one in her future, if we don’t get an electric. Probably come down to cool factor + cost of ownership.
 
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AngusMacG

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My opinion is: It seems that the Grenadier will or has in a short time satisified the 4x4 enthusiasts scene....and there is no modell to compensate if its entry into the normal consumer market will run not so well....add the problems and it may explain the situation.


View attachment 7842982


My opinion to the problems is, despite hiring experts from the automotive market and industry (what Ineos did), starting a new car, even if you take existing parts and plug them together, means you have to go through a tough engineering learning curve. Building a car is one of the most complex things in industry to do. That's what Tesla went through and even EM had to admit that building cars the conventional way is still the right way to do it (if you remeber what EM said years ago: that he wants to do everything different) BTW, Tesla gets slowly into trouble as Hertz, Sixt, and companies (like SAP with 29000 company cars) have kicked out Teslas from their fleets and BYD has become #1 in many countries and even in Germany VW is superior to Tesla now. EM decreasing the price several times in the past months was maybe a good tactical decision, but a bad strategic one. However, Tesla was kept up by the spirit of EM and his "enfant terrible" attitude and the hyped E-car market in general and there was and is much more money behind it than at Ineos.

If you look at other companies, building small batches of cars, you can see that they use existing platforms and add their stuff. And even this causes a lot of problems, but far less as if you start at point zero.

Ineos has increased the price without offering more. That is something which doesn't work for customers. Customers are willing to pay less for the same or pay the same for more or pay more for more. I do not talk about absolue enthusiasts, like we can all see here. But that is a far too small customer base for a complete new development of a car. I told guys from Ineos once, to start cheap (I saw end of 40k, beginning of 50K), with low entrance models and to give the customer the chance to upgrade (at their will) and to have potential for Ineos upgrades (with price increases) and facelifts, etc. to justify an increased price. But they decided to jump in at a very high price. Then they increased the price without offering more (and at the same time firefighting a lot of problems). So where is room for improvement without going far over 100K? And will that mean another price increase?

The question is, if IA can survive this learning curve (from the financial point of view and their reputation). Even if JR is very rich, he never ever would risk his private money. And the money invested must be backed up, either by banks, the chemical business (which struggles) or whatever....IA is a business unit within Ineos, it is managed by (already existing) Ineos managers, so there is Ineos money in.... And who or whatever backs this up, is watching closely.

AWo
Is there no inflation in Europe? i am surprised that Ineos held pricing in the US considering the inflation issues we have
 

AWo

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Is there no inflation in Europe? i am surprised that Ineos held pricing in the US considering the inflation issues we have
Regarding the ADAC report for 2023 there was a price increase in 2023 for new cars (whereas used cars became slightly cheaper).

But....this increase was not due inflation, it was a main driver of it, tells the report. And the car manufacturers made huge profits. So it is the other way around.

Supply chain problems lead to long delivery times and reduced the number of available cars which manufacturers used to increase prices was listed as one of the main reasons for the price increase.

I'm awaiting the DAT Report which will be published on 02-12-2024. It shows many interesting numbers etc. from the car market.

AWo
 
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AWo

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2023 has been one of the most successful years for JLR and the best since 2017. The EBIT margin aimed for was 6%, they reached over 8%. The turnover of the last quarter 2023 (Oct-Dec) was 7.4 billion GBP, what is +22% compared to that quarter in 2022. The overall turnaround of the fiscal year was 21.2 billion GBP. Profit before taxes is 627 million GBP.

101,000 units where delieverd to customers, 28,000 of them where New Defender (Ineos aimed at 30,000 Grenadier but didn't reached 50% of that), followed by the Range Rover Sport. The Range Rover Sport faced the largest growth compared to 2022 with +49%. The New Defender was the best selling modell.

AWo
 

Tazzieman

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Dom Perignon in the JLR boardroom! They seem to be a common car round the posh suburbs.
The big rough looking guy at the tip today was all over the Grenadier. He absolutely loved it , even though he had no idea what it was.
 

AWo

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German official statistics of new car registrations from the KBA year-to-month-end February 2024
JLR New Defender: 711 (+305 in February)
JLR Discovery: 57 (+26 in JFebruary)
JLR Range Rover: 228 (+111 in February)
JLR Land Rover all-in-all: 2048

Ineos: 140 (+65 February)

N1 numbers will be available in a few days.

2024-03-07_15h45_00.jpg

AWo
 
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pmatusov

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German official statistics of new car registrations from the KBA year-to-month-end February 2024
JLR New Defender: 711 (+305 in February)
JLR Discovery: 57 (+26 in JFebruary)
JLR Range Rover: 228 (+111 in February)
JLR Land Rover all-in-all: 2048

Ineos: 140 (+65 February)

N1 numbers will be available in a few days.

View attachment 7847091

AWo
Market saturation may be one thing, but turning their attention to North-American market may be another giant reason. I don't know what the numbers of monthly registrations are in the U.S., guess in mid-400s. They had 7000 reservations prior to start of sales.
 

Norb-TX

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Defenders are piling up at my local dealerships. If that's any indication. They were hard to come by the last 3 years.
 

AWo

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Market saturation may be one thing, but turning their attention to North-American market may be another giant reason. I don't know what the numbers of monthly registrations are in the U.S., guess in mid-400s. They had 7000 reservations prior to start of sales.
It can (must not) be the indication, the the 4x4 enthusiast and Ineos fan market gets saturated at that total number of that somewhat over 1000 units (in Germany). However, the situation will be the cas in other European countris as well, maybe different numbers, but if the registrations go down it either measn they can not keep the deliveries up or the sales.

The question I already asked is, what comes then? When the market for the 4x4 fans is saturated? The Fusilierieireireiri is 3 years away...at least...the US will be a push in sales, no question, but at some point it will also be saturated. That is what I meant somewhere else here....will the Grenadier generate the required sales numbers, when it hits the normal car market and needs to compete with other brands where offroad capability and the look and the aura of the tough expedition vehicle doesn't play a role. But price, reliability, comfort (which includes a no-bing-and-bong-vehicle) day-today handling, service (availability) spare-parts and the cost of ownership is important. Maybe also luxury comes into account. For that price it offers too less luxury...

Will the US suck enough Grenadiers in to keep things going? Ineos Automotive needs a certain cash flow as any other company needs it to keep things runing and this is generated by sales, service and customer loans...remember, in 2023 they got less than 50% of the targeted number registered.

AWo
 

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LR are laughing I would say. In the UK in February there were 0% deals and a total of 8 Grenadiers were sold! That is 8!
 
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pmatusov

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Will the US suck enough Grenadiers in to keep things going? Ineos Automotive needs a certain cash flow as any other company needs it to keep things runing and this is generated by sales, service and customer loans...remember, in 2023 they got less than 50% of the targeted number registered.
Who knows.
I am sure Ineos is more financially-savvy than me; my guess is a split in Grenadier's execution levels could be beneficial.
At present, the Grenadier (baseline version, starting at $71.5k in the U.S.) is a really, really basic vehicle, lacking refinement many other 4x4s in the States have. Pushing the baseline price down to Wrangler- and Bronco-comparable levels could draw in a huge market. I don't see a bright future for the Quartermaster - tens of thousands of Gladiators are gathering dust at Jeep dealerships.
 
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LR are laughing I would say. In the UK in February there were 0% deals and a total of 8 Grenadiers were sold! That is 8!
The Grenadier is more of a niche market vehicle for proper off road use and Overlanding.
lt's also expensive.

lt won't be bought for the school run or trips to the supermarket. Round here the Yummy Mummies drive black Defender 110's with all the bling. They'll never go any further off road than the local horse show.

These 4x4 drivers are not Grenadier customers.

lt's not a bad thing, it's just that the two vehicles have different markets. And the market for Defenders is bigger.
 

Trialmaster

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8 cars in February is not enough. 20 odd Dealers/Agents cannot survive selling this number. I am guessing 24 plate may mean more sales ( I hope). If not the the car will die.

NB: I have just noticed that the 0% deal in the UK has been extended to March 31st.
 

[ Adam ]

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Market saturation may be one thing, but turning their attention to North-American market may be another giant reason. I don't know what the numbers of monthly registrations are in the U.S., guess in mid-400s. They had 7000 reservations prior to start of sales.
According to this interview with Greg Clark, the US is looking at 1000/month, with 2024 MY spoken for and new orders are for 2025 MY. The true test of the US market will be how 2025 & 2026 goes, but I think there's still plenty of momentum. I get stopped weekly by folks asking what it is and where to get one.

Its my understanding that Mexico, Central & South American dealers are next on the expansion list. I expect the dealership in Medellín will be quite busy.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sRPabtgDrA
 

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NB: I have just noticed that the 0% deal in the UK has been extended to March 31st.
That 0% deal requires a minimum 50% down payment. That’s a bit steep.
 
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