Somehow, Land Rover have managed to be awarded the Queen's Award for Export. Dig deeper and you'll find the majority of the growth is coming from China, to a lesser extent the US with minimal growth from Europe and a reduction in sales in the UK. Not surprising when the home market is being starved of product.

What we have to hope for is the Chinese will wake up to the poor LR build quality (see the Build Tolerance thread) and take a shine to the Porsche Macan, BMX X5/M6 and all the rest. Only then will LR's complacent and self-satisfied staff be roused from their lethargy to get their act together and start building quality product in sufficient quantity to meet the demands of the home market as well. Mark

SVR in Estoril Blue

You do seem to like complaining about LR, I appreciate you are annoyed about your car. Are you tempted by Porsches offerings? Arrived: MY16 A/B SDV6 in Aruba, Ivory interior, piano black trim, black panoramic roof, spare wheel, blind spot monitoring, mudlaps and more...

Gone but not forgotten:
2014 RRS2 SDV6 HSE in Loire Blue
2011 Freelander 2 SD4 HSE in Santorini Black

I know the Cayenne quite well and know it delivers the kind of sporting drive I look for in the RRS. I just don't like the look of it. The Macan is different and my dealer knows that if they can't supply a 5.0 SCAB by Christmas, I'm off to a Macan turbo.

Porsches are undoubtedly better made than Land Rovers (leaving aside the problems they currently have with the 991 GT3 engine) and I am visiting Porsche Leipzig in two weeks to see the Macan being made and hopefully drive one. Porsche have expanded their green-field site to build 50000 Macans a year. The factory extension opened on time and cars are being delivered when Porsche said they would. That contrasts with the space constrained Solihull site where a new building to increase FFRR/RRS capacity will open at some point but, meanwhile, the engine plant is late, the hybrid is late, the SE is on hold, the 5.0 SC is pulled (apparently) for this year, InControl arrived late and all the rest.

The Porsche Leipzig site has plenty of spare space to allow another plant to be built to ramp up Macan and Cayenne production further and Porsche are considering building the Cayenne entirely in Bratislava to off-load Leipzig - currently, the trimmed body is made in Bratislava and shipped to Leipzig for final assembly to qualify for a Made in Germany badge but Porsche discovered most punters don't care if the car has a Audi-built diesel engine and they don't care that much whether it's made in Germany or not.

That's not to say getting a Porsche is easy. Every manufacturer of premium quality cars is focussing on China because the demand is inexhaustable and Porsche are no different from LR. Lead times for some models of Cayenne are long and well over a year for a Macan - this for a car which has barely started shipping. I'm afraid Chinese demand for premium cars is strangling supply for Europe.

As for me being critical of Land Rover, yes I am because I don't think their performance justifies £160000 of my gross income to buy one of their cars, not that I can get one anyway. I'm off for the summer soon anyway and will give this site a rest (hurrah I hear you say) knowing that things will be much the same when I return. Mark

SVR in Estoril Blue

Mark - you're not related to Muddywheels on here are you  ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
MERCEDES GL350 - Metallic Navy Blue w/Grey interior

GOING: BMW F31 335D MSport+ xDrive Touring
GONE: Land Rover Discovery 4 HSE - Stornaway Grey w/Black Interior (wish we'd kept it )
GONE: BMW F10 520D MSport - Carbon Black
GONE:MY12 RRS SDV6 HSE Sumatra/Ivory/Grand Black Privacy glass

Mark_N wrote:

Only then will LR's complacent and self-satisfied staff be roused from their lethargy to get their act together and start building quality product in sufficient quantity to meet the demands of the home market as well.

Quote:

I'm really proud that Land Rover are going from strength-to-strength with their exports, it means that British manufacturing/engineering is on the up.

Same sentiments here.

Mark_N wrote:

What we have to hope for is the Chinese will wake up to the poor LR build quality

The chinese will think that L/R build quality is top drawer Have you seen the quality of the that comes out of china

@ Beancounter, i was just wondering the same....

Take a chill pill Mark and move on, lifes too short.

well said, it's not like there aren't any alternatives to choose from (and certainly better alternatives than the boring macan ) Recently bought a 2007 RRS HSE TDV6 for a Pimp-My-Ride-Project.
DONE: Meduza front bumper, AB rear bumper, AB tailpipes, calipers repainted, rear upper tailgate upgrade, side steps, AB front grille, AB side vents, rear LED lights, clear side repeaters, integrated daytime running lights, LED headlights.
TO DO: color code sills and pillars.

AK-Hammer wrote:

Quote:

I'm really proud that Land Rover are going from strength-to-strength with their exports, it means that British manufacturing/engineering is on the up.

Same sentiments here.

Me too

I do find this hilarious - every post on here seems to be a moan about something JLR are doing and yet you still want one...more funny would be to say people are still getting SC versions in the UK - maybe your dealer hates you? maybe you are doing it to yourself by chasing the unobtainable car...the perfect one with all the things you will ever want  Mike

2014 Facelift Discovery

Hmmm...

I don't really think JLR is worse than any other manufacturer, for example I've had two Lexus corroded within 8 months.

My AMGs have had issues with several things, from electrical to gaps between door and chassie.

My Toyota iQ was recalled at least twice a year during three years, all were pretty serious safety recalls.

I think you guys should be proud of what JLR have accomplished!

I like Porsche, but I will never own one because I find them boring in a German way. And to me, it's an old man's car. I love seeing them but I can't really see myself having one. I'm 38 years old, and yes I do have a German car too (MB 350 GLK -13)

It just seems that certain cars are badly built and with often several problems. Other cars are faultless. It's all about not getting that badly built car!

Oh, btw... Does it really matter where JLR sells their cars as long as it creates job opportunities in the UK? Range Rover Sport SDV6 Autobiography Dynamic -14
Defender 110 SW LXV -14
Range Rover 5.0 Supercharged -10

My brother drives a BMW 5 Series. Recently he was moaning about brake pad wear sensor not throwing a warning, pads wearing down to metal and damaging the discs which then had to be replaced too. Unnecessary expense and not to mention safety risk.

He also mentioned how his local BMW dealer quoted him £800+ for a headlight which he was able to buy for around £350 from another BMW dealer.

Safe to say problems also exist with marques considered to be far more reliable than LR and with their dealers too.

The "German cars are better built and more reliable" myth is a result of years of marketing. Most notably VW's use of "if only everything in life was as reliable as a Golf/VW". When I bought a Mk4 Golf GTi PD everyone said "ah Golf, most reliable car there is" etc. Well, it had plenty of work done under warranty and then need a new gearbox at 66k miles (just out of warranty)! And it suffered from suspension knocks just like our RRSs do.

Having said that, our (VAG) Skoda Octavia estate has proved to be pretty good with no real problems that I can remember. A Suzuki Swift Sport I drove for 3 years as a company car never missed a beat and was driven as a hot hatch should be. Also the most comfortable driver's seat I've ever used (must have just suited me perfectly for some reason). Both get sneered at by many for having the wrong badge or country of origin.

I see that the 2013 JD Power survey puts LR above VW, BMW and Audi and just behind MB.
http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/full-results/1206903 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Congratulations to LR....

Great British product.... with a few quirks no different to any other manufacturer....

The only brand(Marque) i´ve been loyal to for 30 years.. and i´ve owned an awful lot of cars... 2014.5 SDV6 AB Dynamic ... Fuji /Santorini Pan roof and 22's
2013 Porsche Boxster S 3.4
2014 Audi A3 S line Quattro
---------------------------------

Beancounter_74 wrote:

Mark - you're not related to Muddywheels on here are you

Ady 555 wrote:

@ Beancounter, i was just wondering the same....

Why would you say that

I too congratulate JLR on their success - I am proud that my last 14 years purchases and the taking I have endured from others helped support them through the lean years so they can now charge double for pimped/pumped estate cars with the off road heritage created by Series/Defenders, Discoverys and Range Rovers

If my current B.Ed doesn't let me down like the last one and I can still afford one I will buy another LR next time or might look for a nice Defender and buy something cheaper/more reliable for daily use  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

We'll done JLR , 1 it's all contributing to the economy and creating employment , the other it should help with our re sales Rob ps even tho my delivery keeps getting put back , the apparent shortage is also helping to keep my 2013 BE strong ( according to my dealer ) so win win all round