The rugged Ineos Grenadier SUV – due in UK dealerships in a matter of weeks – will be followed by a smaller and fully electric sibling model.
Ineos Group CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe has confirmed plans to expand the model range beyond the flagship Grenadier with a smaller SUV, potentially undercutting the larger car's £49,000 start price.
It will use an "all-new" platform, said Ineos - shortened in line with the new car's entry-level billing, but will maintain a similar focus on off-road ability and be positioned similarly as a "workhorse". The Grenadier is heavily inspired by the Land Rover Defender, which has long been available in a range of sizes, and so Ineos looks now to be lining up its own take on the shorter Defender 90.
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It will be built alongside passenger and commercial versions of the Grenadier at Ineos's factory in Hambach, France, but the firm has yet to give a projected timeframe for its market introduction.
With the Grenadier positioned as a rival to the likes of the Land Rover Defender 110, Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes G-Class, the stage is set for this new entry-level model to take on the Dacia Duster and Suzuki Jimny in the affordable, compact 4x4 segment - although crucially it will stand out by virtue of its all-electric drivetrain.
Comments by the company boss suggest that this new model could be badged as a derivative of the Grenadier – perhaps like the relationship between the rugged US-market Ford Bronco and its more lifestyle-oriented Bronco Sport sibling, which uses a different platform.
"What we're looking at quite carefully at the moment is a smaller version of the Grenadier - electric," said Ratcliffe, giving the first details of the new model.
"We need to embrace the future, which clearly, in an urban environment, is going to be electric - but even in a country environment, if you're a farmer, you probably will have an electric vehicle you can drive around on tracks and things like that.
"So you want one that's capable, but it's electric. I think that's our vision at the moment."
Crucially, though, while this new compact 4x4 will be Ineos's first foray into battery-electric power, it has not abandoned plans for fuel cell vehicles.
