Is the new Land Rover Defender expensive?

Author：He Lun, IIA’s Co-Chief Content Officer, Deputy Head of IIA Academy of Auto

Automobile hot topic Q&A (Ep.233)

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"The spirit totem of the Land Rover brand"-a new generation of Defenders finally launched at the Chengdu Auto Show. This legendary model not only has unprecedented off-road performance, but also has a set of extraordinary and exquisite hunting outfits. The price of the 110 five-door version in the Chinese market is between 778,000 yuan and 958,000 yuan. It has become a highlight of the luxury SUV market recently.

Q: I remember you said that the reasonable starting price of Defender is estimated to be around 690,000 yuan, but now it is 778,000 yuan, which is more than 80,000 yuan higher. What do you think?

A: The starting price is not high at all, because it is the starting price of a five-door 400-horsepower 3.0T model. At present, only this power-equipped model is sold in China. It is also the top power version of the Guardian in the global market. The 690,000 I mentioned earlier refers to the five-door 300-horsepower 2.0T version.

What surprised me was that compared with today’s official price based on the pre-sale price of the German market guard, the price of the 400-horsepower basic model has increased from 68,900 euros to the current 96,000 euros. I estimate On the one hand, this is due to the substantial increase in the basic configuration, on the other hand, it may also be due to the super good market feedback and increased confidence. In addition, the previously mentioned 300-horsepower gasoline version has disappeared. Currently, there is only a 400-horsepower gasoline version and a 200-horsepower and 240-horsepower diesel version. Therefore, the original price and model version are mostly out of line with the current ones.

Q: I just mentioned that the price of the basic 400-horsepower gasoline version in the German market is 96,000 euros. I do the math, it's about 784,900 yuan, and the price is higher than the 778,000 in the Chinese market. But China has the highest comprehensive tax rate for imported cars. The tax rate for 3.0 liters is 52.9%. Germany only has 19% value-added tax, and the logistics cost is much lower, but the price is still higher than China. How is this going?

A: I don't know the details. Not only Germany, but also the United Kingdom. The price of the basic 400-horsepower guard in the UK is 79,695 pounds, or about 714,800 yuan. If 20% of the value-added tax is removed, the selling price (including logistics and dealer fees) should be 66,400 pounds, or about 595,000 yuan. If the same car in the Chinese market is deducted from the 52.9% comprehensive tax on imported cars, it should be At 508,800, excluding freight and customs clearance costs, it is much lower than Land Rover's hometown in the UK. Although there are definitely factors in the configuration of different models in different markets, there are also factors in brand recognition, but such a large gap is still incomprehensible.

Q: How does it compare with competitors?

A: Defender is a medium and large luxury off-road SUV, with Mercedes-Benz G on the top and Jeep Wrangler on the bottom, and only medium and large luxury city SUVs horizontally, and there is no direct competition.

If you must compare, you might as well compare with Mercedes-Benz GLE. It is also a 3.0T standard model. The power of the Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 dynamic model is 367 horsepower, which is 33 horsepower lower than the Defender 400 SE. The two configurations have lengths and are roughly the same. But the price of GLE is 830,000 yuan, nearly 50,000 yuan higher than the price of Defender. Looking at the German market, the GLE starts at 74,182 euros for a basic configuration model with the same power, while the Defender is 96,016 euros, which is a lot higher than the GLE.

The price difference between the two markets is so big that it is puzzling. But no matter how incomprehensible, Defender is taking a cost-effective route in the Chinese market, which is not suspicious.

Q: Do you think the Defender will sell well?

A: It is estimated that the demand will be in short supply, and it is very popular, because the appearance and performance of this car have reached the extreme, and the price is also very good. Globally, it will be launched in some countries successively in June. It is estimated that resources are very limited. If Jaguar Land Rover launches an entry-level defender with more than 200 horsepower, including the two-door version of the Defender 90, the price will drop to less than 600,000. It is possible to enter the ranks of the best-selling cars in the luxury SUV market as a "off-road/personality" niche car.