A Brief History of Britain’s Newest Off-Roader: the INEOS Grenadier
A tough vehicle to adequately serve London’s off-road community—if there were such a thing…
This article originally appeared in the October 2025 issue of THE SHOP magazine.
You’ve heard the one about the entrepreneur who loved his company so much that he bought it; but have you heard the one about the British entrepreneur who, when allegedly stonewalled by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), decided to build his own interpretation of the iconic Land Rover Defender?
Sir James A. Ratcliffe was born into a working-class family in England in 1952 and by 2018 was reported to be the richest man in the UK. His current net worth is estimated at close to $17 billion, even as he’s moved his residence to Monaco.
Ratcliffe worked in the oil industry beginning with a short internship at British Petroleum (BP) before moving to Esso and then Courtaulds. In 1989, he joined U.S. private equity group Advent International.
In 1992, Ratcliffe mortgaged his house and formed Inspec with John Hollowood, then purchased BP’s chemicals business. In 1998, Ratcliffe established INEOS and purchased Inspec’s ethylene oxide facility in Antwerp, Belgium for $111 million.
More than 20 acquisitions followed and through the last 25 years the petrochemical company has grown, almost beyond explanation—certainly in this space—and the list of products it supplies covers everything we ever use. INEOS currently employs over 26,000 people at nearly 200 sites in some 30 countries.
Besides his love of soccer, Ratcliffe is a bit of an adventurer and enjoys African safaris. In January 2016, when JLR decided to cease production of the Defender after 67 years of production and more than 2 million vehicles, Ratcliffe tried to persuade them otherwise. Apparently he even tried to buy the Defender design but JLR passed, citing its own new Defender that was in the works.
Well, if you can’t join them, beat them. In 2017, Ratcliffe formed INEOS Automotive Ltd. to develop his own vehicle, eventually named the INEOS Grenadier 4×4. Said to be a “spiritual successor” to the Defender, the Grenadier was supposedly named after Ratcliffe’s favorite pub, The Grenadier, in Belgravia, London, where he allegedly came up with the idea.
REFINING THE SUV
Originally, the Grenadier was to be assembled in Wales and in September 2019, Ratcliffe said, “The decision to build in the UK is a significant expression of confidence in British manufacturing, which has always been at the heart of what INEOS stands for.”
However, in a surprising about-face, the decision was made to purchase a Mercedes-Benz Smart factory in Hambach near the French-German border and assemble the vehicles there instead. This decision might have been due to the costs associated with importing European-made components that would be subject to import duties into the UK.
The Grenadier was designed by Brit Toby Ecuyer, who also resides in Monaco where he is known as a luxury yacht designer—he designed two for Ratcliffe—and not a car designer. And maybe that’s a good thing.
At the time, Ecuyer said, “We thought, ‘Well, we’ll replace it (the Defender).’ Then we thought, ‘Let’s build a better one, something that doesn’t leak and is comfortable. After all, this isn’t 1948.’”
Ratcliffe and Ecuyer worked to incorporate ingenuity into their design. For example, the roof that doubles as a 300-pound-capacity load rack, the ingenious roof tie bars or roping points (that go roughly where the Defender roof windows are), the vertically split rear door, the exposed door hinges and the utility rails along the exteriors of the doors are all examples of their thoughtful collaboration.
Under the hood resides a 3.0L, six-cylinder twin-turbo BMW B58 (the same as a Toyota GR Supra) engine available with either gas or diesel powertrains that includes a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission and a 2-speed mechanical transfer case. The gas engine produces 281 hp and 332 pound-feet of torque, while the diesel offers 245 hp and 406 pound-feet of torque.
Late in 2020, INEOS announced it would work with Korean carmaker Hyundai on a long-term plan to use Hyundai’s fuel cell technology for future Grenadier vehicles and to develop a reliable source of hydrogen in Europe. Given Ratcliffe’s experience in the chemical industry that seems a distinct possibility.
MAKING ITS MARK
Since JLR came out with a new Defender in September 2019 (the first complete redesign since 1983), I wondered how the two SUVs compare. The Grenadier takes a more traditional approach with its ladder frame, solid axles and locking hubs, whereas the Defender is said to offer a more comfortable on-road experience due to its unibody construction and independent suspension.
Either way, British jokesters describe these cars as “Chelsea Tractors” because no one in London ever goes off-road.
Dimensionally, the Grenadier measures 191 inches in length, where the Defender is available from 181 to 212 inches. The Defender is wider at 79 inches compared to the Grenadier at 76 inches and shorter at 77 to 79 inches, compared to 81 for the Grenadier.
Looking at its online map, INEOS highlighted 17 dealers across the U.S. as of earlier this year. Calculating a price is difficult because of all the options, etc., but most appear to be in the $80,000 to $100,000 range. The Defender is somewhat cheaper, starting at around $68,000, but can certainly rise well above $120,000 with added features.
Unfortunately, Ollie Marriage of the BBC’s “Top Gear” said of the Grenadier: “Too old-fashioned, too slow, too inefficient, too idiosyncratic, not fit for modern life. None of that is wrong. It’s a dreadful SUV. It is to the school run what a battle axe is to slicing vegetables: unwieldy, inappropriate and equipped with enough sharp edges to make you put an arm round your children and retreat to safety.”
Marriage went on to say, “But equally I can’t think of any that are better suited to scuffing down green lanes, scrubbing around the back of beyond.”
Meanwhile, our friend Mark Vaughn of AutoWeek had this to say, “The Grenadier is great. I’ve taken it off road and driven it on the highway and it’s a great vehicle except for the steering—that’s a deal-breaker. I don’t know why they don’t just fix it.”
Of course, it’s hard to determine if the Grenadier has sold well, though indicators are that 2024 production sold out with somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 units in the U.S. In January 2025, INEOS also introduced a new model, the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster. Based on the same ladder frame but with a 12-inch longer wheelbase, the extra-cab pickup has a payload of 1,680 pounds and a towing capacity of 7,700 pounds.
There’s no doubt that the Grenadier has eaten into the Rover market and will continue to do so. Perhaps they should have sold Ratcliffe the old design from the beginning.
