7:54 am, July 1, 2020
Ineos Automotive has revealed its first car – the Grenadier.
Billed as a ‘no-nonsense 4×4’, Ineos says the Grenadier fills a void in the market left by other car manufacturers.
It takes a ‘form follows function’ approach with styling cues taken from a number of other rugged off-roaders including the original Land Rover and Defender models.
The Grenadier sits on a brand new platform and is powered by BMW six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
It will launch in late-2021 initially as Mercedes G-Class-sized five-door station wagon with a circa-£40,000 price tag, followed by a pick-up.
A short-wheelbase and other derivatives could launch afterwards and development cars are scheduled to rack up 1.8m kilometres in testing this year.
Ineos Automotive is a subsidiary of Ineos – a £50bn British petrochemicals company chaired by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The idea for the Grenadier came after Land Rover refused to sell Ratcliffe the designs and tooling for the Defender when it ceased production in 2016.
And the name comes from Ratcliffe’s favourite pub in Belgravia, London.
Commenting on the car, Ratcliffe said: ‘The Grenadier project started by identifying a gap in the market, abandoned by a number of manufacturers, for a utilitarian off-road vehicle.
‘This gave us our engineering blueprint for a capable, durable and reliable 4×4 built to handle the world’s harshest environments. But it had to look the part as well.’
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