The Ineos Grenadier is bound for Asia-Pacific... and possibly Singapore?

Singapore - If you haven't heard about the Ineos Grenadier, shame on you, because some hardcore 4x4 purists regard it as the spiritual successor to the original Land Rover Defender – this means ruggedly chunky styling on a ladder-frame chassis, uber-cool cabin switchgear, Euro6 BMW petrol and turbodiesel engines, as well as modern safety features and mod-cons. (Click HERE to read all about it)

Brainchild of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a chemical magnate who also a car enthusiast and avid 'adventurer', the Grenadier is a function-over-form, no-nonsense purist 4x4 workhorse that will put up with all manner of use and abuse.

“The brief was simple. We set out to design a modern, functional and highly capable 4x4 vehicle with utility at its core,” said Toby Ecuyer, Head of Design.

“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.”

However, what's more interesting is the company's plans to design a "vehicle for the world", with INEOS Automotive preparing to launch the Grenadier in 35 markets come 2022. Asia-Pacific markets will include Australia and New Zealand, with plans for launch in several ASEAN markets in 2022, subject to homologation.

With global deliveries expected to start in July 2022, INEOS Automotive is already hammering out agreements with 200 retail/aftersales partners around the world in preparation of the launch, which includes both established dealer groups, as well as 4x4 specialists.

As far as Singapore is concerned, Justin Hocevar (INEOS Automotive's Head of Asia-Pacific pictured above) says this at a recent press conference, "We're already in discussions with three potential distributors and should be able to announce who our distribution partner is within the first quarter of 2022. Once we have that in place, it means we can allow customers to place their orders to start to look at an allocation of manufacturing in the second half of 2022. And so I'd like to think that we would start to see the delivery of vehicles in Singapore, maybe just inside the tail-end of 2022, or otherwise, early 2023."