Interview with Justin Hocevar on Ineos and the Grenadier

Justin Hocevar is no stranger to adventure and a challenge.

As if earning a living as a motorcycle courier on London’s notoriously dangerous streets in his early 20s wasn’t enough of a testament to his fortitude, the trip home to Australia after four years in the UK was completed using a Honda XRV750 Africa Twin and 12-month overland adventure.

Of course, the journey would have been far simpler by air, but Hocevar tells Wheels that a yearlong odyssey through countries including Iran, Pakistan and Nepal teaches you a few things that the inside of a Boeing 777 cannot.

“Going out into the unknown leaves a mark on you that you can approach anything and everything, and your consideration of the possibilities is a little broader,” he said. “But also it leaves you with a longing for doing things a bit differently and not taking the path well-trodden.”

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Over a long and varied career in the Australian automotive industry, Hocevar’s resume includes a tenure with BMW helping to transform Motorrad from a range of motorcycles for grey nomads into a vibrant adventure brand, and turning Renault’s flat-lining sales into five years of growth from his first year at the helm.

But the longing for adventure and a desire to break the mould isn’t fading with experience. In fact, his latest venture is arguably the most ambitious and risky – leading challenger brand Ineos into the fearsomely fickle Australian market.

Conceived over beers at Ineos Motors founder Jim Ratcliffe’s favourite pub and sharing its name, the Grenadier large 4x4 will lead the charge around the world’s respective markets, funded by the company’s giant chemical industry ventures. If you’re seeing more than just a likeness to the retired Land Rover Defender then you’re not mistaken.

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The Grenadier was created to fill the gap left by departed old-school 4x4s including the Defender, but sales are coming from a diverse range of customers, according to Hocevar. Either way, they’re coming in thick and fast with order books in all regions filling faster than Ineos expected. “Australia has particularly outperformed expectations,” he reports.

“When we first opened our orders we blew out to 18 months of production and that gave us the ability to go back and re-craft the Australian plan.”

After proving the potential Down Under, Ineos was able to negotiate a larger share of global supply, and while Hocevar didn’t reveal exact numbers, the extra supply reduced wait times to eight months – but continued interest has since extended it back out to a year.

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Interestingly, mournful Defender owners only constitute a small number of those placing deposits in Australia, and while there was significant interest from the Land Rover community, the lion’s share is coming from far bigger brand followers.

“We’ve spoken to a lot of Toyota people, quite a few Nissan people, that are still hanging on to their Y61s. But then we get people who are in Rangers and Amaroks. We’re not chasing huge amounts of share from companies like that, we’re just presenting an alternative to what those brands do now.

“We provide a credible, durable, reliable, quality 4x4 for those people who feel they’ve been left behind.”

In many cases - including a large contingent of customers who placed $800 reservations - the local audience has everything crossed for a Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux rival.

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“There’s a lot that are waiting for news on the dual-cab, and the dual-cab will come,” confirmed Hocevar.

Any similarity to the Defender ends with the Grenadier’s exterior with unique body-on-frame construction, twin live axles and a choice of diesel or petrol six-cylinder engines courtesy of BMW, but Hocevar’s approach to the Australian market is equally unorthodox.

Unlike many other automotive startups, the Britain-based company does not see itself as the Google of cars and instead has far more in common with a very different sector of transport to offer an antidote to “Jellybean SUVs on monocoques”.

“We’ve approached this almost like a truck company would. Much longer model cycle, no need for fancy cosmetic updates. Let’s recognise that each individual vehicle has a unique purpose and downtime is money. Sure we’ll have to evolve…but right here right now, we’ve got everything you need and nothing you don’t.

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Of course, Hocevar could have tried to do it the old fashioned way and introduce Ineos with a more conventional business model, but an unusual vehicle requires an unusual treatment with everything from the company’s beautiful architectural premises in a converted bakery in Melbourne’s west, to the focus on a regional network and direct-to-consumer contracts.

Commerce is littered by startups that focused too much on the product, neglected the peripherals and failed, but it doesn’t take long talking to Hocevar to realise that Ineos is about far more than a compelling off-road vehicle. This is a company that’s looking at the full picture and isn’t scared to take risks.

With a focus on more “purposeful vehicles,” ongoing hydrogen fuel-cell development, 29 agents locked in around Australia, a year’s worth of orders, and the first Grenadiers rolling off boats right now, it looks like Ineos has pulled the pin out of a pineapple and tossed it into the Australian 4x4 market.