Gear -- 8 days ago
It all started over a pint, as the best things do. In 2016, Sir Jim Ratcliffe – billionaire, businessman and founder of petrochemical behemoth INEOS – found himself in The Grenadier, a historic drinking den in Belgravia, with a group of colleagues. The conversation turned to the demise of the Land Rover Defender, that great British workhorse, and the absence it had left. But rather than lamenting its ceased production, Ratcliffe proposed an idea: why not build their own? A straightforward, uncompromising rugged off-roader with 21st century levels of comfort and ergonomics: a highly differentiated analogue product in a digital world. The pub gave the concept its name. The Grenadier was born.
INEOS Automotive founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, outside The Grenadier in Belgravia.
What followed was anything but a hobbyist’s flight of fancy. By 2017, INEOS Automotive had been established as a dedicated division of the wider INEOS Group, with the “Projekt Grenadier” team assembled to make the vision a reality. A sketch of the car, scrawled on a £5 note, still hangs in that same pub. Ratcliffe brought in the best: Magna Steyr, the Austrian engineering powerhouse responsible for Mercedes’ G-Class, and BMW, whose smooth, inline straight-six petrol and diesel engines would power the new vehicle. Not a bad start.
A sketch of the INEOS Grenadier's interior.
Testing was exhaustive. Prototypes were driven more than a million miles through every imaginable environment: the rocky trails of Austria’s Schöckl mountain, the shifting sands of the Middle East and the blistering heat of Death Valley. The brief was straightforward. As Head of Design Toby Ecuyer said, “We set out to design a modern, functional and highly capable 4x4 vehicle with utility at its core… There to do everything you need, and nothing you don’t. Nothing is for show”.
INEOS Grenadier at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024 Prototype Hill Climb.
The business foundations were equally ambitious. In 2021, INEOS acquired a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Hambach, France – a facility formerly owned by Mercedes-Benz and staffed by over 1,000 experienced workers. With the site secured, production was able to begin at scale, and in July, 2021 the Grenadier made its first dynamic debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed’s iconic hillclimb. Reservations opened later that year and demand was immediate. Some 75,000 prospective buyers registered interest, proving that Ratcliffe was right: there was still a global appetite for a serious 4x4.
Momentum only accelerated. Production began in earnest in 2022, and by 2023 Grenadiers were being delivered to customers across over 50 markets throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and, crucially, the United States – which has since become the brand’s largest market, accounting for 60% of all sales.
INEOS Grenadier Kavango 6-Seat Prototype.
INEOS Grenadier Station Wagon 'V8' Prototype.
Along the way, the Grenadier line-up expanded. The Quartermaster double-cab pick-up made its world debut at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, followed by the 2024 launch of the Grenadier Commercial, a two-seat customised version of the 4x4. There were limited-edition brand collaborations (including with British outerwear brand Belstaff) and the unveiling of multiple prototype variants, as well as the acquisition of Botswana-based Kavango Engineering, one of southern Africa’s most respected and established vehicle conversion specialists, and the launch of Arcane Works, a unique service that allows customers to personalise limited editions of the Grenadier. Earlier this year, order books opened for the most extreme Grenadier yet – a new portal axle model curated by renowned German off-road specialists, LETECH – the INEOS Grenadier Trialmaster X LETECH. It’s the ultimate off-road machine and further proof of INEOS Automotive’s refusal to rest on its laurels.
INEOS Grenadier 'Shortermaster' Quartermaster Prototype.
In less than ten years, INEOS Automotive has become an established name in a notoriously tricky sector to break into. It has navigated global supply chain issues, component shortages, shifting zero-emission targets and the scepticism that greets any industry outsider. All the while, the team hasn’t wavered in its razor-sharp focus on remaining true to Sir Jim’s original vision. The Grenadier isn’t a nostalgic throwback, but its own beast – a machine with British spirit and German precision, born from a single idea scribbled in a London pub and carried through with conviction.
