INEOS Grenadier debuts

It might look like a cross between a Land Rover Defender and a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, but the INEOS Grenadier is all-new from the ground up.

Unveiled to the world today and set to begin an extensive 1.8 million-kilometre global testing program “in plain sight”, the unapologetically serious 4x4 wagon will go on sale in the UK and Europe in late 2021.

It’s due to arrive Down Under in early 2022 and, yes, before you ask; there will be a longer-wheelbase dual-cab 4x4 ute version. And INEOS is targeting pricing competitive with a top-spec Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series (about $70K).

The INEOS Grenadier was created to fulfil the vision of Land Rover Defender fan, adventurer and chairman of UK chemical giant INEOS Group, Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

In fact, INEOS Automotive’s most senior executives will happily tell you the concept for the vehicle came from discussions with Ratcliffe lamenting the ‘softening’ of the new-generation Land Rover Defender at his favourite pub, The Grenadier.

From that humble beginning and the defining of key attributes (Design, Durability and Reliability and Off-Road Mobility – literally set out on the back of a beer coaster!), the Grenadier has taken shape in around three years.

INEOS Automotive is currently completing production facilities in Portugal and the UK.

In keeping with Ratcliffe’s vision, the Grenadier’s key ‘must-haves’ read like an off-road enthusiast’s wishlist: mechanical two-speed transfer case; 1000kg payload and a minimum 3500kg towing capacity; “fenders you can sit on”; wheel at each corner stance; external storage; external spare wheel; and “open source” electrical and accessory platforms.

The design inside and out is defined as “form follows function”, says INEOS.

“It was an engineering-led design process, focused on delivering a vehicle to do a job,” INEOS Automotive boss Dirk Heilmann told carsales in an Australian-exclusive interview in the lead-up to today’s unveiling.

The Grenadier features a bespoke platform designed in conjunction with auto engineering specialist, Magna Steyr. The body-on-frame design features coil-sprung beam axles designed and built by tractor-specialist Carraro, and is powered by a choice of BMW-supplied inline six-cylinder turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel engines, matched to ZF automatic gearboxes and a mechanical permanent 4x4 system.

Although a simplified BMW engine management system is used, INEOS has designed its own electrical platform for the new vehicle with “fit-for-purpose connectivity and infotainment”. The company promises Grenadier will be ready for owners to accessorise with both INEOS and third-party systems, hence the open-source tag.

The Grenadier will, however, be launched with a range of key accessories, INEOS Automotive commercial director Mark Tennant promises.

And while the INEOS Grenadier will be rugged, the company also understands that even adventurous modern consumers expect and demand a level of comfort and amenity.

With a background at Bentley and with other brands in Australia and South East Asia, Tennant explained: “There’s a real strong sense with this vehicle that utilitarian absolutely doesn’t have to mean spartan.

“You shouldn’t suffer for your craft, or your interest, and therefore we’ve really not stinted in connectivity – you know, USB ports, power points – comfort of the seats, the ability to drive along with your elbows on the inside of the vehicle. Things that haven’t always been possible with ‘the dear departed’ in terms of previous 4x4s in this category.

“And that extends also to safety standards. We’ve got some massive obligations to meet in terms of the EU, the US regulations and the ADR rules down there [in Australia] and so… that’s not something we’ve scrimped on.”

Still, INEOS promises the Grenadier will be “hose out”.

“In terms of the ratings on the instrumentation for waterproofing and water resistance, that’s built in. We probably don’t want people to get their Karcher out and blast the thing. But in terms of footwells and drain plugs in the floor, that’s all considered, Tennant said.

It’s perhaps the INEOS Grenadier’s Defender-like looks that will cause the most discussion – at least in these early stages.

INEOS Head of Design, Toby Ecuyer, told carsales: “The stalwarts of the utilitarian vehicle world were slowly being diluted and becoming more SUV-like and we sort of felt that there was an opening gap where we could actually produce something that was truly a proper workhorse – a proper tool.

“That sort of criteria led the design. We wanted a wheel in each corner; we wanted beam axles… The proportions of the car were almost dictated by the engineering… It sort of leads to this language of being a really honest vehicle and inevitably you end up with a very sort of boxy design.

“That’s what we set off to do – an uncompromised vehicle… But we wanted it to look good – something you wanted to make part of your family.”

Qualifying the design chief’s comments, boss Heilmann concedes the alignment with the iconic Land Rover was almost inevitable.

“Once we had all the components there; when we’re clear what the chassis is supposed to do; what the cross-angling is; when we’ve made the decision on the axles; when we’ve made the decision on the engine… Quite quickly you have, literally, a package,” he said.

“And you then shrink-wrap the design around and want to keep it simple; want to make sure that everything you see is clear what it’s for. If there is a surface, we’re not just making [bulking it up] because it looks nice.

“To cross the same bridges, like others have done in the past, you find yourself in a similar position so that’s why you will find, I think, a lot of [cues] of LandCruisers, of HiLuxs; of yeah, the former [Defender], of G-Wagens…

“[We] wanted to keep it simple, so for example, the lights being round, is the simplest form we could think of so it’s easy to make them so they’re not [right or left] handed…

Heilmann says INEOS is showing the Grenadier further ahead of the vehicle’s on-sale date because the company is not “protecting sales of existing products”.

“We’re on our journey to do a testing program of 1.8 million kilometres and we started already last year. But now we’ll be getting into real prototype testing and we can do that in plain sight now.

“[This will] also go well with us launching the vehicle, because we’re acutely aware of the massive task in hand to build a brand, get it out there, [explain to buyers] what the proposition is, what the vehicle is.

“So, we start a bit earlier. There’s nothing to protect. All we can do is show people what this vehicle is all about.”

The INEOS Grenadier has already been subject to some winter testing in Sweden. Further testing is scheduled for South Africa and Spain, but the company did not rule out Australian testing, hinting that the Canning Stock Route would be an ideal venue.

Early testing has, however, already ruled out four-cylinder versions of the Grenadier – at least for now.

“We’re going with the straight six – straight six petrol and straight six diesel only,” Heilmann explained.

“We weren’t quite happy with the performance [of the fours], and so that would be, I think, one uncompromising compromise too much.

“We wanted something that we can also detune a little bit to give it the durability and then map it differently to suit our application. And the results, so far, we’re very happy with.

“So even under load, pulling three and half tonnes, the performance is still quite good and acceptable rather than dying a slow death,” Heilmann commented.

Quoting the BMW, Carraro and Magna connections, INEOS execs say the Grenadier won’t be cheap but it will be “attainable”.

Tennant: “It’s not going to be a cheap vehicle because durability has got to be absolutely to the forefront… We’re not going to be competing with the millions of utes built in Thailand. We’re going to be north of that [more expensive].

“[But] We take some comfort in Europe and Australia in the richness of the [dual-cab] mix – the popularity of the Ranger Raptor or the Wildtrak or the [top grade] Toyota HiLuxs.

“We need to sort of stay in touch with the top end [of the utes]. And on the other side of the equation, we’re not going to disappear up into the stratosphere with the G-Class,” Tennant explained.

“If I look at LC70s [models] and where they’re priced at in Australia, that’s something to aim at – [high-grade] Wrangler too – it’s in that sort of ballpark.

INEOS Automotive says ute-mad and SUV-crazy Australia is an important market for the Grenadier but concedes the fit-for-purpose nature of the vehicle won’t be for everyone.

Tennant again: “It will be a bit Marmite, or Vegemite – it won’t be for everybody, but some people will embrace the chance to have something that looks fundamentally different.”

INEOS Automotive believes corporate and military buyers will need to see a history of reliability and total cost of ownership before they jump onboard, but isn’t dismissing the opportunity. Ultimately, however, it will be rural buyers, lifestyle and enthusiasts that will lead the sale charge.

“That’s our view of the space that we’re entering. And then we’ve got new things coming like the Ford Bronco, which we think is good news. It kind of reinforces that this is a market opportunity rather than something that people are abdicating for good reasons,” Tennant stated.

“If you look around the world, our biggest category is that rather large and less clearly defined set of lifestylists who need to tow things, carry loads, head off into the bush.

“We’ve got the lift kit brigade and the enthusiasts who love nothing more than mucking around and putting huge tyres and wheels on. In terms of how influential they are as a group, we’re very keen to engage… [but it is] probably a smaller buyer group, at least at the outset.”

But don’t expect Grenadier to be erecting grand dealerships near you anytime soon.

“We all know that everybody shops online and does all their research online anyway, and we’re trying to add to that further. [But] In the face-to-face [part of the sales process], we’re really keen to bring vehicles to people rather than relying on them to come to us,” Tennant revealed.

Indeed, sales, parts and service is another area in which INEOS Automotive says it will be innovative.

“The first point that we’re really focussed on, that will be the first announcement you hear from us specifically in the coming months, is how the hell am I going to get it fixed?

“We’ve got some great innovative ideas on service networks… which is really fundamental [to the Grenadier’s success]. The biggest ‘why not buy’ is where do I get my parts and where am I going to get it fixed.”

“If we want to aspire to the left-hand side [of the road] and the farmers and the guys who are on a sheep station in the middle of nowhere, that’s the first thing they’re going to ask.

“We’ve got to get that right,” Tennant opined.