Ineos Grenadier WILL be built in Wales
The new 4×4 from Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Automotive will have the Ineos Grenadier badge when it launches in 2020, and it will be built in Wales.
Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos has been busy developing a replacement for the Land Rover Defender for three years now, although it won’t be a Land Rover and nor will it be a new Defender.
But there’s no doubt the Ineos Grenadier – as we now know it will be called for production – will be a spiritual successor to the original Land Rover Defender, and not another luxury Land Rover offering, and will be designed for people who need it to work, complete with ladder chassis and different body styles to suit the work required.
The brief for the Ineos probably means it won’t look hugely different to the old Defender, but we don’t yet know what it will look like, although we do know it will be built in Wales. Well, most of it.
Following our report last month that Wales was the front-runner to build the Grenadier, Ineos has now confirmed that’s right and production will be at a new factory in Bridgend, South Wales, in 2021.
But not everything will be ‘Welsh’, as the 3.0 litre six-pot petrol and diesel engines will come from BMW – as will the auto ‘box and Infotainment – and sub-assembly will be done by Ineos in Portugal for the body and chassis.
Dirk Heilmann, Ineos Automotive CEO, said:
Confirming production in the UK, as well as our investment in Portugal, is a major milestone for the project. We are progressing well with the design and engineering work, as well as our marketing and distribution plans. In the months ahead, we look forward to sharing more information about the Grenadier, and engaging with local suppliers, the community and region, in advance of the start of production in 2021.
Prices of the Ineos Grenadier are expected to be more than the old Defender, but a chunk less than Land Rover’s new Defender.
Rtfa Zeberdee says
why can’t they put the work in and develop their own engine, as bad as Aston Martin taking in Mercedes engines
Cars UK says
And Jaguar using BMW engines (previously Ford engines), Toyota using BMW engines too, Mercedes using Renault engines and… It’s the cost-effective route for even the biggest players
Mark Geller says
Parts from here and parts from there. Not a real this and not a real that. Could there really be enough demand for a kit car Defender?
Cars UK says
To be fair to Ineos, they’re spending half a billion on the Grenadier projekt, it’s engineered by MBTech, engines by BMW and building the rest themselves. It’s a lot more than a Defender ‘Kit’ car.