Australia – unsurprisingly – appears to be becoming an important global market for the Ineos Grenadier 4×4, as it is currently home to the third largest source of pre-orders anywhere in the world.
Set to hit local shores in small numbers in Q4 2022 before increasing supply, the Grenadier is both the spiritual successor to the original Land Rover Defender and a contemporary rival to the Toyota LandCruiser 70.
While a final price has not been confirmed, Ineos previously pointed to a starting price for the most basic two-seat version at $84,500 plus on-road shipping. The five-seat versions are expected to have a modest $1000(ish) premium.
With final specifications yet to be announced and the factory in the late stages of preparation, Ineos says it currently has more than 15,000 orders worldwide. It retains Australia-specific numbers.
Local buyers have been able to deposit $800 refundable to close pre-orders as of October 2021, placing them in the first place when ordering on the more detailed configurator will work (priced at both) in April.
Those who decide to proceed, configure and place an order will then be required to deposit $5000 or $4200 for those who have already placed the aforementioned reservation fee.
From there, a few weeks from the time their vehicle was built, the funds will then roll over to a non-refundable state – the reason being that someone can configure their car in a specific way that makes it hard sell.
Ineos is committed to notifying customers when their construction is about to begin and when the deposit becomes non-refundable.
$800 “raisers” who can go on to be $5000 order holders have, in some cases, been given the opportunity to participate in Grenadier’s ‘2B’ development prototype, which has been in progress circumnavigated Australia as part of a client run – Regional languages include.
However, no one can drive production-ready Grenadiers because they don’t exist.
Ineos countered by saying that this represents a low percentage of buyers, because the almost production-ready Grenadiers will start arriving locally before the full brand launch and will be there for potential customers to experience. experience.
In other words, everyone who places an initial order at the bar will have the opportunity to ‘meet’ the car they want to buy in some form. They will not receive theirs from the first batch.
Production Grenadiers will be built at a former Mercedes-Benz (Smart) plant in Hambach, France, since the Ineos acquisition. The custom development vehicles are built by Magna in Austria.
Story
The Grenadier project is the brainchild of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a British billionaire engineer and chairman of the petrochemical giant Ineos.
The official story says that Ratcliffe hung out in London’s Grenadier pub in 2017, lamenting Land Rover’s decision to ditch the old Defender and replace it with a more modern and luxurious new SUV. .
Internally, Australia is seen as the “core market” for the step-frame, rigid-axle Grenadier along with Europe, the US and South Africa, meaning locals have priority access to the vehicles. that many brands covet.
The old Land Rover Defender will be sold as a 4×4 body-on-frame wagon, with a low-range transmission, various locks, a revised 6-inch BMW engine and a stripped-down off-road suspension, “designed and engineered to handle the world’s harshest environments”.
It is expected to have a box-frame ladder up to 4mm thick walls – no monolithic frames here.
The Grenadier is expected to feature front and rear beam axles built by Italy’s Carraro, a supplier to tractor manufacturers John Deere and Massey Ferguson. They will support a multi-link suspension with separate long-travel Eibach coils and ZF dampers, and stiffened bars.
There will also be a permanent 4×4 instead of a part-time, a mechanical shifter for the low end and differential locking front, center and rear. The tonnage must reach at least one ton before the wagons are signed and the towing capacity target is 3.5 tons.
The engine will be supplied by BMW. Both are 3.0-liter inline-six engines, one running on gasoline and the other running on diesel. They are codenamed B57 and B58 if you want to visit Wikipedia for more.
Both will be connected to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission as the only choice – the main difference compared to the old LandCruiser 70 and Defender which used manual only.
Ineos Automotive Australia Pty Ltd will be a factory-supported operation rather than an independent licensed distributor.
The company has appointed renowned automotive executive Justin Hocevar to take charge of its Asia-Pacific operations. Mr. Hocevar previously ran Mini Australia and Renault Australia, and was a senior executive at Jaguar Land Rover and BMW Motorrad.
It will set up a network of franchisees and service centers, but use a reseller model – which means it will own all of its new and trial stock until customers receive it. inventory, which means pricing and accessing national inventories from anywhere.
The company is expected to launch in Australia/NZ with around 36 dealers, scattered across all capitals along with multiple regional centres. By the end of the third year, the goal is to cover 98% of the market.
Ineos also has contract with the various Bosch Service Centers in remote areas. These mechanics will be trained and have the same access to parts and data as an official Ineos dealer in larger population centers.
About the front of the partsthose looking to work on their own vehicles will also be able to get technical support from Ineos HQ and access to an interactive online 3D workshop manual and parts catalog.
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