Ineos Grenadier

Ineos Grenadier, rear

Ratcliffe came up with the idea of building a replacement of his Land Rover Defender and approached Jaguar Land Rover to buy the tooling to continue production after the original model ceased at Solihull after 67 years in January 2016.[3] Ratcliffe later decided to initiate a project to design and build a similar vehicle under the codename Projekt Grenadier.[4]

The vehicle is named after Ratcliffe’s favourite pub, the Grenadier, in Belgravia, London, where the initial idea was considered, and where a promotional presentation was shown.[3] Comparing this project to James Dyson's plan to build an electric car in Singapore, which was cancelled writing off £500 million ($628 million), an industry insider commented "If JLR, which made the Defender for 70 years, is struggling, then that's an indicator of how tough it's going to be for a newcomer".[5]

In March 2019, Ineos Automotive announced that it had entered into a powertrain technology partnership with BMW.[6] It was announced in September 2019 that the Grenadier would be manufactured at a bespoke new manufacturing facility on a greenfield site in Bridgend, Wales. Ineos Automotive also confirmed that it would be investing in a sub-assembly plant in Estarreja, Portugal for the Grenadier’s body and chassis.[7] In December 2019, Ineos Automotive announced the Austrian-based Magna Steyr as their engineering partner for the development of the Grenadier. This partnership would oversee turning the development project concept into a mass-produced machine.[8] Development of the off-roader will see it undergo 1.1 million miles (1.8 million km) as part of a grueling testing regime.[9] Mark Tennant, the commercial director of Ineos Automotive, told the Financial Times there had been 50,000 expressions of interest before the designs of the vehicle had been made public. The brand expects to build 25,000 Grenadier models a year at full capacity.[10]

On 7 July 2020, it was reported that Ineos Automotive was in talks with Daimler AG, the owners of Mercedes-Benz, to buy the Smart factory in Hambach, France and build the Grenadier there instead of Wales and Portugal. "It's a serious business consideration," Tennant said.[11][12] Ken Skates, Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales said it would be "a real blow if Ineos reneged on its very public commitment".[13][14] The government of Wales was reported in July 2020 to have spent £5 million on supporting the Ineos factory development at Bridgend with enabling work and road infrastructure, and said at that time that it would "look to recoup appropriate costs from the company" if the Bridgend factory was cancelled.[15]

On 8 December 2020 Ineos announced it had purchased the Smartville factory at Hambach, France, to build the Grenadier, stating that the site's location "gives excellent access to supply chains, automotive talent and target markets".[16] Ineos denied on Twitter having received "grants or other direct financial support" from either the Welsh or Portuguese governments.[17]

At the online launch, Toby Ecuyer, Head of Design at Ineos Automotive,[18] said: "We had Jeeps, Land Rovers, Toyota Hiluxes, a Toyota Land Cruiser, Nissan Patrols, Ford Broncos. And we looked at vans, lorries, Unimogs, military vehicles, tractors. African-spec vehicles were particularly interesting. They all shaped our plan for a vehicle that would be extremely capable but also very honest and uncomplicated".[19] The exterior design of the Grenadier was shown to the public for the first time in an online launch on 1 July 2020. At the launch Jim 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 4x4 built to handle the world’s harshest environments".[20]

Steve Cropley, Editor in Chief at Autocar said "The result is a simple, well-proportioned and familiar-looking off-roader."[21]

It was revealed in July 2020 that the Grenadier is due to be powered by BMW six-cylinder engines.[22][23] and would have a box-section ladder frame with up to 4mm wall thickness. The company also announced the vehicle would have beam axles both front and rear, made by the Carraro Group in Italy, while the suspension would be a multi-link set-up with separate coils and dampers.

Tennant said that internal combustion engines were best for "rough, tough jobs", and pointed out the need for good range and autonomy in remoter parts of the world, with hydrogen fuel cells part of the longer-term plan.

Deploying a hydrogen supply chain could in itself benefit Ineos, which produces 300,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year.[2]

• Official website

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