Published as Star Letter in response to “if Land Rover build 2wd vehicles, is it the end of the line for Solihull?”

I’m sure all TOR readers are aware of the stereotypical school run mum, usually found in urban areas in her Range Rover Sport with bling alloys and low profile tyres, not to mention its wonderful terrain response system. But why does she need all that four wheel drive gadgetry, if the most extreme off roading she does is tackling speed bumps in the high street?

The truth is, it’s an image thing. Landys are cool. It’s fashionable to have a luxury 4×4 sporting the green (or black) oval. But what is the point of having a 4×4 when a 4×2 will do the job just as well?

There are two ways Land Rover can respond to this. The first is to stop building these trendy vehicles and focus on the hardcore Defenders with solely workmen, farmers and off road nuts in mind. This would be financial suicide for Land Rover – just imagine how much money they make from selling expensive vehicles to city types. The other option is to do exactly what they’re planning to do – remove all the pointless off road technology and sell a fashionable SUV with 2wd.

The purists will hate it. Some still haven’t forgiven Land Rover for using coil springs. But look at it this way – the more money Land Rover make, the more they’ll have to spend on off road vehicles for the enthusiasts. And besides, if they’re breaking their own rules and have the cash to splash, maybe they’ll do something completely bonkers… 5.0 Supercharged Defender anyone?