Poll: Which body style are you getting?

mark_n · 27-09-2011 04:11am

I think the opportunistic pricing of the coupe - £1000 more in the UK, don't know about other markets - cannot have helped but the poor rear access and more limited visibility will be the real reasons. These rule out the coupe as an everyday family car and it only works for me because I hardly ever need to take people in the back.

How LR thought they could get away with the seat adjustment motor moving the seat forwards for rear access is beyond me. I wonder too whether there will be reliability issues. The designer will have assumed the motor would only get occasional use, even if regularly driven by two people, not frequent full scale forwards and back.

The cost difference irks me too. Only two doors instead of four, no rear electric windows, less materials, less work on the line, higher price. It will be interesting to see if the premium is maintained in the next model year (though with a return to inflationary times, we can't rule out mid-year price increases).

As for expected sales, I think a figure of 2:1 was mentioned but in the end, practicality is proving the deciding factor.

GibEvoque · 27-09-2011 10:14am

I think the reason is that generally the people buying the 5 door versions are in their 30's and require the practicality of a 5 door for family reasons, and choosing it as an alternative to either another 4x4 such as the Q5 or and estate i.e Merc C-class etc which are all in the same price bracket.

The coupes seem to be for the older crowd whos kids have left home, but have grown used to the 4x4 driving experience, especially LR, with a number changing from FFRR and RRS's. However at this leve you get fewer new customers to the marque.

I think the LR marketing bods would have picked up on this early on, might also explain the pricing structure, which makes the 5 door slightly cheaper than the coupe, based on levels of disposable income of people in these two brackets.

Alot of assumptions and generalisations above, but its what i sense through the various posts here, especially the thread on current vehicle.

**XFullFatTim** · 27-09-2011 10:27am

Traditionally car makers have always charged more to give you less practicality. It's one of those great questions in life, why do they do it!

benzina · 11-10-2011 02:56am

Bump for the newbie's. Cheers

KPNuts · 11-10-2011 09:35am

The Coupe we are getting is more practical than the car it is replacing - a 9-3 convertible! So it partly depends on where you are coming from (vehicle wise).