INEOS Automotive

General information

One Wednesday evening late in 2015, Jim Ratcliffe, the visionary INEOS Chairman and offroading enthusiast was seated with friends at The Grenadier pub in Belgravia mourning the demise of the Defender- would we ever see such a rugged, adventurous offroader again? It wasn’t long, however, when conversation turned to creative thinking- could we have a shot at building a worthy successor? After a bit of dreaming, an extensive feasibility study and some international market research, an ambitious plan began to take shape- a concept for a brand-new uncompromising 4x4, which would combine extensive off-road capability with 21st century reliability.

Since then, Jim has brought together a passionate team of experts and offroad enthusiasts from across the world to set about creating brand new, old-souled 4x4 that will combine reliability, durability and a uncompromising adventure capability. They have envisioned a British-inspired, German-engineered true working vehicle, which can drive cross country, pull a plough, lead a safari, clear a minefield, cross a river and drive up to Buckingham Palace…

The undertaking was first internally nicknamed, and later more widely dubbed “Projekt Grenadier”. It seems to have stuck. We are now sharing the journey to building the car with the general public, keen to gather advice and input from passionate offroaders everywhere.