Australian pricing confirmed for 2022 INEOS Grenadier

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.

The Grenadier is the first vehicle from INEOS Automotive, a name you might recognise as a sponsor of the British America’s Cup yachting squad, Mercedes F1 Racing team and British road cycling teams, but primarily it is a huge chemical production company.

INEOS owner Jim Ratcliffe recognised the need for a traditional, off-road-capable four-wheel drive utility vehicle after Land Rover announced it was planning to stop making the classic Land Rover Defender. When LR refused to sell Ratcliffe the rights to continue to manufacture and sell the Defender, he decided to build his own.

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The result is the Grenadier, named after the pub where the idea for it was conceived. Right now there is fleet of Grenadier 2B prototypes putting in test miles around the world in preparation for the production vehicle. INEOS is planning to log more than 1.8 million test kilometres before it signs off on the production car and begins manufacturing in Germany.

One of those 2B prototypes landed in Australia last week, where it will soon embark on local testing – initially at a private test facility and then out to the wilds of the outback and beyond. That vehicle will also be shown to a select group of ‘Hand Raisers’ who have shown interest in the vehicle from the outset, to gain feedback on how they see it fitting in to the Australian market.

INEOS clearly sees its Grenadier appealing to a range of users including recreational travellers, four-wheel drivers, government and NGO departments, emergency services, and farming and industrial operators – much like the classic Land Rover had for 70 years.

The entry-level model starts at $84,500 and gets you a two-seat ‘commercial’ wagon. The range will go up to include four- and five-seat models, some with premium Recaro seating, front and rear differential locks and a range of accessories to tailor the vehicle to the owner’s requirements.

INEOS Automotive Australia is in the process of establishing its headquarters in Melbourne under the guidance of long-time automotive industry manager Justin Hocevar.

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Hocevar outlined to 4X4 Australia the brand’s plans for wide-spread network of Grenadier ‘agents’ in Australia and New Zealand, mainly along the highly populated east coast but also in regional areas plus some service-only agents in regional areas.

These agents will work alongside an online system of configuring your Grenadier in the approach to purchase. INEOS will partner with Bosch Automotive to supply service in some areas to reassure owners they will be able to maintain their vehicles no matter where their adventures take them.

The Grenadier will come with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty in Australia and New Zealand, along with a five-year service plan to lock in ownership costs.

Aside from announcing the starting price, not much else was revealed about the car and the range, other than diesel and petrol variants will be priced the same with no price penalty applied to diesel vehicles.

“Let’s build a world-class 4x4 with the best component suppliers, but also let’s support it in the best possible way,” said Hocevar of the strategy.

The Grenadier uses a choice of petrol or diesel six-cylinder engines, both supplied by BMW and backed by ZF automatic transmissions. A full-time dual-range transfer case gives four-wheel drive, while the live axles come from Italian manufacturer Carraro and can be equipped with locking differentials.

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INEOS saw from the outset that owners of such vehicles will want and need to fit accessories to their cars and has had an open-source approach to working with accessory companies. It will offer its own range of accessories for the Grenadier, but is also working with aftermarket accessory companies to ensure there are products to meet everyone’s needs.

Hocevar confirmed the company is speaking with some Australian aftermarket brands about products, some which will augment INEOS’s own accessories.

An indicator of how important INEOS sees the integration of accessories is that the Grenadier comes pre-wired to accept a range of products such as driving lights, power winch, roof lights for emergency vehicles, solar charging, dual batteries, and towing equipment.

Speaking of towing, the Grenadier wagon will have a 3500kg towing capacity and 7000kg GCM.

“The Grenadier is going to be a part of the storybook of people’s lives, the adventures they go on and the things they do,” said Justin Hocevar of the vehicle.

In an age of overly complex SUVs and off-road pretenders, we see the Grenadier as the most exciting new vehicle to come to market in decades. Let’s hope it lives up to expectations.