The first models of the new Ineos Grenadier SUV will arrive in Canada in the first quarter of 2024, a little later than originally planned.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
Canadian customers have been waiting for the utilitarian new Ineos Grenadier SUV since a prototype was shown in Toronto one year ago, and they’re still waiting, but now at least they know how much it will cost and when it will arrive.
Ineos Automotive Ltd. said the first Grenadiers will be delivered to Canadian customers in the first quarter of 2024, a few months later than planned, and the vehicle will carry a higher price, $91,929, than some customers anticipated.
Still, the mere fact the Ineos Grenadier is coming at all is no small feat for a new car company, even one started by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and chairman of global petrochemical giant Ineos Group Holdings SA.
Last year, Greg Clark, executive vice-president for the Americas at Ineos Automotive, told The Globe and Mail that Canadian deliveries were slated to begin in late 2023.
The rugged body-on-frame Grenadier was built with a BMW-sourced straight-six-cylinder engine that sends power to all four wheels through three locking differentials and two solid axles.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
In a recent email, Clark said the delay to 2024 was partly because of the need for Canadian vehicle certification and a lengthy licensing process. “The process of becoming licensed as a OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in Canada is somewhat more involved than it is in the U.S.,” he said.
Ineos Automotive also wanted to wait until Canadian import duties on European-made vehicles were nixed, as of Jan. 1, 2024, under the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Clark said.
“We thought it would be prudent to delay first imports until then,” he explains, to avoid baking an import duty into the price, “thereby needlessly penalizing Canadian customers for the first model year.”
The list of Canadian dealerships that will handle vehicle delivery and service will be announced in a few months.
The front seats on the Grenadier. The SUV was built to rival Land Rover’s all-new Defender, the Mercedes G-Class, and American off-roaders such as the Ford Bronco.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
The delay has nevertheless meant some would-be customers have had to look elsewhere. Jacques Maillet, a retired RCMP officer and off-road adventurer from Ottawa, was at the SUV’s Canadian debut last year. But, he couldn’t wait until 2024 to get a new SUV, so ended up purchasing a new Land Rover Defender instead.
The rugged body-on-frame Grenadier was built to rival Land Rover’s all-new Defender and the luxurious Mercedes G-Class, as well as American off-roaders such as the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler. The Grenadier’s BMW-sourced straight-six-cylinder engine sends power to all four wheels through three locking differentials and two solid axles.
It has been rolling off production lines at Ineos Automotive’s factory in Hambach, France since October of 2022.
Order books opened in May this year for U.S. and Canadian customers, with priority being given to anyone who’d already put down a refundable deposit. As of last June, Ineos had taken roughly 570 deposits from Canadian customers.
The dash on the Ineos Grenadier.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
Among them was Erik Bakke, an investor and amateur racing cyclist from Calgary (The Ineos Group sponsors the Ineos Grenadiers, which are a successful professional cycling team, and not to be confused with the Ineos Grenadier SUV.)
Bakke put down a refundable deposit for the vehicle so long ago he doesn’t remember exactly when that was. After a string of Mercedes SUVs, his wife now drives the new Land Rover Defender, while he has a vintage Land Rover Defender 110 off-roader as a passion project, but he understands the appeal of modern safety features. “The old Defender is pretty laborious on the highways, and has zero safety features or airbags; driving around, when you have a family, you think a little differently,” he said in an interview.
Ratcliffe’s original idea for the Grenadier began as Land Rover discontinued the boxy old Defender in 2016. He felt it left room for a utilitarian SUV.
For Bakke, the appeal of the Grenadier was that it could offer a similar experience to the old Defender, but with modern comfort, safety and convenience. “But [the price] is a little bit heavier than I would like, and that they advertised,” he said. However, it’s not a dealbreaker for him.
At $91,929, the Grenadier is well into luxury-SUV territory. It may be capable as an off-road work vehicle, but how many businesses could justify adding this to the fleet instead of, say, a $55,000 Jeep Gladiator or Wrangler?
Behind the seats of the Ineos Grenadier, a split tailgate swings out to reveal a largest trunk.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
“The price reflects the quality of the end product but also the real-world ownership experience,” wrote Ineos’s Clark. “However, it shouldn’t be overlooked that certain [high-end] models of even mass-market vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco offered today now far exceed the price of the Grenadier.” He said the company has no plans to offer a stripped-back version of the SUV with a lower price.
Indeed, the Bronco and Wrangler can be optioned up to more than six figures. The Grenadier is tempting buyers away from those American SUVs, despite its price.
Anmol Singh of Etobicoke, Ont., is a weekend off-road enthusiast who drives a Jeep Gladiator and Ford Bronco. At a recent test-drive event for potential Grenadier customers held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont., Singh was impressed by the vehicle’s off-road performance.
At a time when even Jeep and Land Rover are embracing electrification, and Mercedes is planning an all-electric G-Class, it is unusual for an automotive startup to launch with a purely gas-powered SUV. But, it reflects the fact that the vast majority of SUVs sold in Canada still have gas-powered engines. That said, Ineos Automotive does have an EV in the works, too.
In April, the company announced it is developing a smaller, all-electric SUV to be built by Ontario-based Magna International Inc., in Graz, Austria, beginning in 2026.