With the beginning of Grenadier 4×4 sequence manufacturing at its Hambach, Germany facility, Ineos crossed a big juncture as one of many world’s largest chemical producers seeks to enter the auto manufacturing area.
“We’ve come a long way since the project kicked off in 2017 and this is a landmark moment for Ineos Automotive as a vehicle manufacturer,” mentioned Mark Tennant, Ineos Automotive Commercial director.
“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 them all as we now look forward to making our first deliveries to customers.”
An SUV impressed by Land Rover
The car being constructed is the Ineos Grenadier, a body-on-frame SUV with a physique comprised of metal and aluminum and a glance that recollects the previous-generation Land Rover Defender. In growth since 2017, it’s the imaginative and prescient of Ineos CEO Sir Jim Ratcliff, a 4×4 fanatic, who mourned the lack of the unique Defender and vowed to construct one himself, forming Ineos Automotive, a division of the world’s third-largest chemical firm. They purchased a manufacturing unit from Daimler AG in Hambach, Germany, and set about constructing an approximation of the outdated Land Rover Defender.
The Grenadier was developed with companions BMW Group and Magna Steyr. Ineos Automotive has arrange its North American headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Grenadier is obtainable as a five-seat Station Wagon, a two-seat and five-seat Utility Wagon, a primary 4×4 with the refinement of a recent SUV. The flooring of the two-seat variant is flat and may accommodate a pallet. To present one of the best mixture of payload and rear passenger house, the Station Wagon has 5 seats, with the second row set additional again than within the five-seat Utility mannequin.
The undercarriage has entrance and rear skid plates, rock sliders, in addition to safety for the oil pan, transmission, the three differentials, and the gas tank with as much as 4 mil grade metal.
Power will come from a BMW turbocharged inline 6-cylinder engine and ZF 8-speed computerized transmission with guide shift functionality, 2-speed switch case, three locking differentials, and a 7,700-pound towing capability. A guide transmission won’t be supplied. A diesel engine will probably be offered in most markets, however not the United States or Canada as a result of issue assembly emission necessities.
“In terms of capability and rugged dependability, you’ve got a vehicle that’s built for a 30-year lifespan plus rather than a 10-year lifespan,” Greg Clark, government vp for Ineos Automotive, informed The Detroit Bureau.com in an unique interview in 2021.
Dealers to be named quickly
While the corporate has but to announce its 35 U.S. retail companions, the corporate expects to reveal them by 2023.
Further out, the corporate is starting to check an all-electric Grenadier powered by a hydrogen gas cell.
“I think the Grenadier is perfect for a hydrogen engine — in time,” mentioned Ratcliffe throughout an interview posted on the corporate’s web site in May. “But what we’re also looking at quite carefully at the moment is a smaller version of the Grenadier electric. We need to embrace the future, which is clearly in an urban environment going to be electric.”
The new mannequin will use an all-new smaller platform than the Grenadier and its ladder-frame chassis, whereas retaining its off-road functionality. Future fashions can even embrace a Grenadier pickup truck, an SUV with an extended wheelbase, and a station wagon with a tiny pickup cutaway on the again.
Source: www.thedetroitbureau.com
