Fancy 4x4 's

[Klaus]

I read all the threads about this Jeeps,Hummers aso.
Nice?, not to me. I would never think about to buy one of these cars, evenso I have the money, the cars which I even don't like.Try to be a little bit normal and enjoy with what you have. They are "showoff's" and might act better than others in special curcumstances.
You need acar for the sand.
You need a car for the rocks.
You need a car for the snow.
You need a car for the mud.
May be the Al Dhabi is a solution, most of us driving to work and back home.
So what car you realy need?

[difflock]

Klaus,

I do agree with you. Thank you for mentionning the AL Dhabi as a viable alternative however, it is still too expensive to be your daily ride. I believe that GM has a winner with the H3. If properly priced, it could very much be a all purpose vehicle, making you happy going to the grocery store and at the same time, very very capable in the tuffest conditions. Also, it looks like it would be financially sound. I do not see any other car in the market that could currently match it....to bad the engine does not have a bit more poneys and it does not come on 35 inche tires stock with coils in the rear but I guess we will see that stuff on the accessory market very soon....

[Fouad Berjaoui]

The H3 will be priced between 120,000 (entry model) and 140,000 (top of the range model) as confirmed to me by GM Dubai. there are also 2 tyre configuration with 31 inch being the LOW tyre configuration.

I dont agree with you Klaus, the H3 is a very good vehicle, and at 120,000 it's cheaper than the Patrol and Land Cruiser. It's also a 4-door vehicle unlike my 2-Door Blazer. dont get me wrong, I like my 2 door, it's just that most people prefer a 4-door for everyday use.

3 things will come out of the H3 (perhaps this is why it's called H"3" :

1- Hummer is not longer an expensive name, at 120K anyone can own a Hummer. By May 2005 you will see more H3s than Porsche Cayennes.

2- I anticipate that some 4x4 will be severly hit, mainly the Prado and the Pajero. With the new 2005 Pathfinder design and the H3, the Prado & Pajero are most likely to be driven out of the market.

3- JEEP is no longer an Offroad icon, those days are over. The HUMMER era begins.

By the way, did I mention an H4 is currently being designed ??they're still working on the design and 1st prototype. it's going to be a Freelander/rav4 type of Hummer. Anticipated Price between 90 and 100K Dhs. it's a Policy thing, FORD Group will still produce the "soccer-mom" type of 4x4s (Explorer/Expedition) but is diverting all OFFROAD vehicles over to Land Rover. Similarly. GM is dropping all OFFROAD vehicles from Chevy/GMC and turning them over to the Hummer brand.

Fouad

[DiscoDino]

Fouad,

Jeeps, Hummers...FJ40...they all come and go...the true legend/icon is the Land Rover ;D

(P.S. this does not conflict with the fact that the original design was based on the Willys, does it )

[Bryan]

Fouad,
New design for Pathfinder. Hmm interesting. Does it look like the one in the magazine from the American motor show. Any pics?

[Fouad Berjaoui]

Bryan, it's all over the internet here are a few links

autos.yahoo.com/newcars/nissan_pathfinder_seoffroad4x4_2005/16577/style_overview.html;_ylt=ArGf22pC7uW.xIr797K.OZhcgL8F

www.off-road.com/nissan/press/2004_10/pathfinder.html

Dino, man dont feel so confident about it, you know the Defender's fate is still hanging in the air, Land Rover themselves dont know if they will pull the plug or not on the Defender range. When I was in the UK in September, Land Rover executives said to me, that sales figures do not support production continuation of the Defender, however, it is still being regarded as an important vehicle in the Military circles, its military sales are more than its civilian. + as you correctly mentioned, it's an image thing, if they loose the Defender, they loose an important partr of their offroad image.

There is talk about a 2006-2007 or possibly 2008 makeover of the Defender, with new ugraded amenities and modern enhancements on the civilian side. But they are still debating internally whether the sales figures support this kind of upgrade.

According to LR UK, I was told they want to upgrade their brand image to the luxury side. i.e. most their vehicles will shift to resemble the Range Rover rather than the Defender. Hence the upgrade in technology (and price) of the new LR3 which is the first vehicle in this new decision. the 2006 Freelander (new design) will still be a compact 4x4, but with many luxury enhancements, they are talking of a TOTALLY NEW Freelander (like the LR3) not like the facelift they did in 2004 .

So if I were you I wouldnt open my big mouth hehe and talk about "cars come and go and the Defender remains", that might not actually be true, it's under the microscope, hope for your sake it will stay alive.

Fouad

[DiscoDino]

Fouf,

They can take it out of production, but with 75% of Land Rovers produced on the road, you can rebuild one ANY DAY ;D

we are here to stay "hell no we won't go!"