The Ineos Grenadier – the spiritual successor to the classic Land Rover Defender – is now officially on the assembly line. After months of trouble with global supply chain disruptions, the off-roader has finally reached the mass production stage at the company’s facilities in Hambach. First customer deliveries are expected in early December this year, although the SUV will arrive in the United States at a later date.
“We’ve come a long way since the project started in 2017 and this is an important moment for Ineos Automotive as a vehicle manufacturer,” said Ineos Automotive commercial director Mark Tennant. “To get to this point is a testament to the resilience and hard work of the entire Ineos Automotive team, our development partners and our suppliers – for which we thank all of them as we now look forward to making our first deliveries to customers.”
3 Photo
The automaker will sell its vintage off-roader through a network of more than 200 sales and service centers around the world. The company has signed agreements with retailers in Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East with at least 75,000 people expressing an interest in buying Grenadier in recent months. The good news is that Ineos Automotive is also working on finding partners for the North American market and we expect to hear official news about the US entry in the coming months.
Depending on the market, the Grenadier will be available with two inline-six engines. Both BMW and European will get both options – petrol and diesel engines, both mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and permanent all-wheel drive with a two-speed transfer case and three-lock differential. The US market will only get a twin-turbo B58 gas unit with 281 horsepower (210 kW) and 332 pound-feet (450 Newton-meters) of torque. The diesel, in turn, has 245 hp (183 kW) and 406 lb-ft (550 Nm) of rev.
Ineos Automotive has one more important task towards the end of the year. The automaker will begin on- and off-road testing of its Grenadier Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Concept (FCEV) with a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain. Hopefully we’ll learn more about it in the coming weeks.
