For a while now, as we awaited the reveal of the brand new Land Rover Defender, we knew that one thing related was cooking that sounded much more deeply grounded within the Defender custom: the Ineos Projekt Grenadier. We’ve gotten a peek at its rugged body, and earlier as we speak we acquired a freshly teased picture. Now it has been revealed in all its boxy, stoic British glory, with Ineos offering the truck with this no-nonsense portfolio: It’s “a automobile to do a job.”
The imaginative and prescient of Ineos Group chairman and British adventurer Sir Jim Ratcliffe — who famously and unsuccessfully tried to purchase the tooling for the outdated Defender from JLR — the Grenadier is clearly not meant to be co-opted by soccer mothers, like all of the Rovers and G-Wagens on the market. There shall be no coddling within the ranks of the Grenadiers. It’s designed to be easy, sturdy and stripped down, able to thriving within the harshest corners of the planet.
When the world realized that the brand new Defender could be unibody, Ratcliffe learn the room and determined that is not what he nor others needed. Though he was operating a large chemical firm, he determined to get into the automotive recreation, with the assistance of engineering companion Magna Steyr. Together, “finest at school” capabilities are their said aim.
And the harshest corners of Earth are precisely the place the Grenadier will endure testing, some 1.eight million kilometers of arduous knocks within the months to return, Ineos guarantees.
What we have now right here as we speak is merely the reveal of its Grenadier’s rugged exterior. And to the shock of nobody, it is a slavishly devoted homage to the unique Defender, from grille to rear doorways, and from clerestory home windows to knobby tires. You can get a better have a look at the Grenadier’s web site.
“The brief was simple. We set out to design a modern, functional and highly capable 4×4 vehicle with utility at its core,” stated Toby Ecuyer, the Grenadier’s head designer. “A design that is ‘easy-to-read,’ with no ambiguity about the Grenadier’s role in life. There to do everything you need, and nothing you don’t. Nothing is for show. Modern engineering and production techniques ensure the Grenadier is highly capable, but we have been able to stay true to the essence of creating a utilitarian vehicle that will stand the test of time.”
Dirk Heilmann, INEOS Automotive’s CEO, stated: “We are delighted to have the ability to share the design of the Grenadier so early within the course of. Most producers would maintain again, however we’re a brand new enterprise, constructing a brand new model, and we wish to take folks with us on this thrilling journey.”
In different phrases, the testing shall be in plain sight, with no camo, and with the hopes of constructing a loyal following that roots for the truck because it’s put by means of its paces.
The INEOS Grenadier will go into manufacturing in late 2021.
Ratcliffe, the Ineos chairman, stated: “The Grenadier project started by identifying a gap in the market, abandoned by a number of manufacturers, for a utilitarian off-road vehicle. This gave us our engineering blueprint for a capable, durable and reliable 4×4 built to handle the world’s harshest environments. But it had to look the part as well. As you will see today, Toby and his team have done a great job in delivering a design that is both distinctive and purposeful.”
At first look, and if the truck it is modeled on is any information, it seems they succeeded. What do you suppose?
