2023 Ineos Grenadier: Everything we know about the serious off-roader

In this rolling chronicle of updates, you'll find links to all the big news and reviews for the upcoming Ineos Grenadier.

June 2023: Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster teased

New British 4x4 brand Ineos reveals first image of production dual-cab ute that will carry the Quartermaster name.

February: Grenadier driven!

We head to the Scottish Highlands for a first drive of the Ineos Grenadier – the new 4x4 aiming to replace the discontinued original Defender.

February: Interview with Justin Hocevar on Ineos and the Grenadier

Former Renault Australia boss Justin Hocevar takes on his greatest challenge yet – introducing unorthodox challenger brand Ineos and the Grenadier.

January: Grenadier pricing increases and delays explained

In a story common to all brands and buyers since COVID arrived on the stage, the Grenadier has suffered a significant price rise and production delays. Get the full story at the link below.

January: The Ineos Grenadier ute is due in Australia this year

The double-cab ute version of the incoming Ineos Grenadier off-roader should launch in Australia this year.

January, 2023: Ineos names Lynn Calder as its new CEO

Ineos has promoted from within, announcing longtime executive Lynn Calder as its new CEO.

The appointment is joined with Hans-Peter Pessler moving to Ineos Automotive as Chief Operating Officer, having performed executive duties with Magna Steyr – the company that manufactured Mercedes-Benz’ G-Wagon, among other models in the automotive market.

Related video: Grenadier first look

October 18: First Grenadier rolls off production line

The first market-ready 2023 Ineos Grenadier has rolled off the company's production line in Hambach, France, ahead of its big launch next year.

Ineos's local arm told 4X4 Australia that if shipping goes well, the first Australian deliveries could come as early as December but most likely early in the new year.

The six-variant Grenadier range consists of three five-seat station wagon models, and three two-seat utility wagons. All models are available with either petrol or diesel BMW 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder engines.

Model nomenclatures include Grenadier, Grenadier Trialmaster Edition and Grenadier Fieldmaster edition, with prices starting at $84,500 before on-road costs for the base utility wagon. Prices top-out at $96,495 for the range-topping Fieldmaster station wagon.

September 30, 2022: PTO2 on tour

The 2023 Ineos Grenadier made its latest appearance at the 2022 UCI World Championships in Wollongong.

The same Grenadier was shown off at the National 4x4 Outdoors show at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier in the month. In case you missed it, the ‘PTO2’ prototype will continue to pop up at events around the country.

The latest ‘PTO2’ Grenadier is a more complete prototype that is very indicative of the final product allowing customers to make final spec choices following order books opening in May.

The vehicle in question is the off-road biased Trialmaster fitted with a few extras including a bull-bar, black paint and siderunners.

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Image Credit: James O'Connor

May 19, 2022: Australian order books open

Australian buyers interested in the Ineos Grenadier can now put down an order for the off-roader.

The British-based manufacturer today announced its order books were opening globally, including for Australian customers, less than a month after Ineos revealed Grenadier pricing for the local market.

Starting at $84,500 before on-road costs for the base utility wagon, prices go up to $96,495 in its range-topping Fieldmaster station wagon guise, with prospective buyers given the option to configure their Grenadier on the Ineos website.

April 29, 2022: Full specification of line-up revealed

Ineos has revealed the details and specification of its six-model Grenadier range of 4x4 wagons, which is set to go on sale in Australia later in 2022.

They include three models each of the five-seat Station Wagon and the two-seat Utility Wagon. All variants are offered with a choice of petrol or diesel BMW 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder engines.

Click the link for the full story.

April 27, 2022: Order books to open in May

Ineos has announced it will have 32 sales and service centres across Australia and New Zealand when its Grenadier 4x4 wagon goes on sale later in 2022.

The dealers give the start-up 4x4 brand a widespread network across the two southern nations, and they will be among 200 centres set to be spread across the globe by year’s end.

Notably under-represented, however, are Western Australian dealers, with just two announced in our biggest state.

Read more of this story by visiting the link below.

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February 23, 2022: Ineos Grenadier review: Prototype drive

The Grenadier is tipped to be a confident and comfortable off-roader that feels as solid and unstoppable as Toyota’s benchmark 4x4s.

But can Ineos really challenge the LandCruiser? Angus Mackenzie finds out. Read his review of the prototype by clicking the link below.

October 12, 2021: Grenadier testing on Australian soil

The 2022 Ineos Grenadier is set to arrive in Australia this time next year, but a prototype is already undergoing durability and hot-weather testing in the Outback.

Ineos has released new images of the Grenadier mule being subjected to Australia’s challenging environment, as the new British carmaker seeks to create a reliable and heavy-duty four-wheel-drive designed to compete with the likes of the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series.

September 29, 2021: How Ineos plans to appeal to Australians

As engineers complete a total of 1.8 million test kilometres with prototypes around the globe – including here in Australia – Ineos says it’s created a proper off-roader as an antidote to the softening of other four-wheel-drive models on the market.

“We will offer some versions that will go up in the range with nicer interiors for example – for those that want more comfort – but what’s not on the cards for us is going down this direction of ‘SUV’,” Ineos Australia sales and marketing manager Justin Hocevar told 4X4 Australia.

Read more of our interview with the company here.

September 29, 2021: Australian pricing revealed

Australians will be able to place an order for an INEOS Grenadier from October 2021, with deliveries of the all-new 4x4 wagon set to occur late in 2022.

The five-door Grenadier wagon will be offered initially, with prices starting from $84,500. A four-door double-cab pick-up will follow in a few years’ time.

Read our full pricing story here.

July 7, 2021: Interior revealed

Ineos Automotive has revealed a functional and practical interior cabin for its Grenadier wagon, which is due to go on sale around the globe in 2022.

The styling is very military-like with plenty of switches and dials which are said to be easy to reach and use, even when wearing gloves.

Hopefully, the abundance of dials and switches means users won’t be pushed in to menus within the screen to access commonly used controls as seems to be the case in many new vehicles.

Find out more about what the interior has to offer.

July 1, 2020: Ineos Grenadier revealed

In a world where traditional live-axled, ladder-frame four-wheel drive vehicles are becoming a rare commodity, there’s a new vehicle coming to market in 2021 and it’s coming to Australia.

The Ineos Grenadier promises to bring back the old-school off-road traits adventurers appreciate, in a vehicle that has up-to-date emissions and safety tech to make it viable in this day and age.

The live-axle Land Rover ceased to exist in 2016, and even the 40-year-old Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen switched to IFS, leaving the Jeep Wrangler, LandCruiser 70 Series and Suzuki Jimny as the only vehicles to retail the live-axle arrangement both front and rear.

It was Land Rover’s decision to re-invent the Defender as a more on-road-focused SUV that led to the birth of the Grenadier, and it’s no coincidence it bares distinct similarity to the iconic Brit.

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Ineos is a British chemicals company that operates globally, with 183 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries supplying markets around the world. Fans of F1 and yacht racing might have seen the brand name on the Mercedes-Benz F1 team cars and America’s Cup racing boats and wondered who they are.

Ineos founder Jim Ratcliffe is a proud Brit and was a big fan of the Land Rover Defender. So much so, that when JLR announced it was discontinuing the Defender as we knew it, Ratcliffe tried to buy the rights and equipment to keep the Defender in production. JLR didn’t want a bar of that, so Ratcliffe decided to do it on his own and created Ineos Automotive to build the Grenadier.

“The Grenadier project started by identifying a gap in the market, abandoned by a number of manufacturers, for a utilitarian off-road vehicle,” says Ratcliffe. “This gave us our engineering blueprint for a capable, durable and reliable 4x4 built to handle the world’s harshest environments.”

Significantly, Ineos has employed the services of Magna Steyr (who manufacture the G-Wagen for Mercedes-Benz, as well as many other cars) to get the prototype ready for testing. It also secured BMW six-cylinder engines, both diesel and petrol, to power the vehicle. Transmission will be a ZF automatic, and it will have a dual-range transfer case. The production chassis will be manufactured for Ineos in Portugal and the live axles will come from Italian manufacturer, Carraro.

Interestingly, Carraro mainly makes axles for heavy and agriculture vehicles, but it also makes portal axles for lighter vehicles. When asked if the Grenadier would be equipped with portal axles, an Ineos spokesperson said that it won’t have them at launch as the vehicle has to be affordable. However, he didn’t rule out making them available to fit in the future. Front and rear locking differentials will be optional.

The standard axles are rated to 300kg front and 925kg rear, and the Grenadier wagon will have a 3500kg GVM and 7000kg GCM. With a final weight expected to be around 2500kg, the wagon will have around a one-tonne payload, and it's being designed to accommodate a Euro pallet between the wheel arches in the cargo area. The dual rear doors are also designed to accommodate this size.

The components will all find their way to the new ‘greenfield’ factory in Bridgend, Wales, where Ineos expects to employ up to 500 staff to build the Grenadier. Initially, Ineos is planning to make 25,000 to 30,000 Grenadiers per year, but it will have the ability to produce more in the future.

On July 1, Ineos revealed what its Grenadier will look like, and there’s no hiding similarities to the Defender and G-Wagen which reinforces the type of vehicle this will be. The reveal also showed the Grenadier will be available as a five-door wagon and a four-door, long wheelbase pick-up. These will be the initial models, with Ineos not ruling out more in the future, including a single-cab pick-up.

Ineos Automotive’s CEO, Dirk Heilmann, said, “We are delighted to be able to share the design of the Grenadier so early in the process. Most manufacturers would hold back, but we are a new business, building a new brand, and we want to take people with us on this exciting journey.

“Showing the design now allows us to focus on the critical next phase of the vehicle’s development, testing its capability and durability. We have a very challenging programme ahead, as we put prototypes through their paces in all conditions, on the way to accumulating some 1.8 million test kilometres over the coming year. From today the covers are off. Testing ‘in plain sight’ without the need for camouflage wrapping, foam blocks or fake panels is an added benefit.”

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All Grenadiers will be built on a bespoke ladder-frame chassis with the aforementioned Carraro live axles riding on long travel coil springs, with sway bars front and rear. This design is used to keep the vehicle simple, durable, capable and affordable. In fact, these prerequisites run across the Grenadier design philosophy and are very much in line with what we would like as 4x4 users.

The body will be made from high strength steel, with the hanging panels made from aluminium. Most importantly, it will meet all expected safety requirements, allowing it to be sold around the world including in the USA and Australia.

In fact, Australia will be one of the first countries outside of the UK to see the Grenadier late in 2021 or early 2022; while left-hand-drive countries such as the US will have to wait a bit longer.

Final pricing is a long way off, but don’t expect it to be as cheap as an old Defender. Ineos spokesman said it “won’t be a cheap vehicle but it won’t be priced like G-Wagen”. We’re tipping in will start sub-$100K and be similar in price to a LandCruiser 70 Series.

With testing ramping up we expect to see a lot more of the Grenadier over the next 18 months, and we look forward to sampling the final product.

What is Grenadier?

The name Grenadier was chosen as it was the name of the pub in London where Ineos boss, Jim Ratcliffe came up with the plan to create his own uncompromising vehicle back in 2017.

Like all good ideas it happened over a pint of beer with the plan to build a stripped back, utilitarian, hard-working 4x4 engineered for modern day compliance and reliability.

With the design reveal in July, testing of the vehicle now gets underway with plans for a 2021 release date.