This is the Ineos Grenadier, a rugged
off-roader that aims to take over from where the previous-generation Land Rover
Defender left off. Unless you’ve been following the Grenadier story in recent
years, you may not have heard of Ineos. That’s because this isn’t a car
manufacturer and is instead one of the world’s largest chemical producers.
Founder Jim Ratcliffe was inspired by Land Rover’s decision to kill off the
original Defender and decided to build a new one. The Grenadier gets its name
from a London pub where Ratcliffe first envisioned the vehicle.
Visually, the similarities between the
Ineos Grenadier and original Defender are clear. The Ineos has a similar
utilitarian design with a boxy profile. Up front, there is a prominent black
bumper, large circular headlights, and secondary lights incorporated into the
grille. Like the original Defender, the Grenadier has been designed to be as
rugged as possible. For example, the front fenders are strong enough to sit on
and there are roof bars and load pads integrated into the roof meaning no roof
rack is needed to carry loads. Out back, the Grenadier pictured sports a spare
wheel, circular taillights, a skid plate, and a small ladder to gain access to
the roof.
Ineos has yet to finish the interior
design of the off-roader but it is expected to use lots of BMW parts. Speaking
of BMW, power will come from BMW’s 3.0-liter turbocharged six-cylinder engine
that is mated to a ZF eight-speed transmission. Ineos has yet to announce
specifics for the engine but has confirmed it will apply its own tune to the
inline-six. Coming standard will be a mechanical center differential with
locking functionality being optional.
In the coming 12 months or so, Ineos will
partner with Magna Steyr to develop the off-roader with a plan to test it for
more than 1.8 million km as part of a grueling development
regime. As the Grenadier comes from a company with no prior experience of this
sort in the automotive industry, it wouldn’t be surprising for it to come at a
significant premium over other off-roaders on the market. However, Ineos is
targeting a starting price of around US$ 30,000 when the Grenadier lands in the
U.S. in 2021, putting it in line with the Jeep Wrangler and undercutting the
new Land Rover Defender by around US$ 20,000.
