The Ineos Grenadier Has Already Cost Owner Jim Ratcliffe More than $1.5 Billion

Photo: Ineos

It’s a well-known fact that developing a new car is expensive. Especially these days. But surely a basic body-on-frame off-roader like the Ineos Grenadier would be one of the less expensive ways to go about it, right? After all, it’s basically just an old Land Rover Defender. Except it really isn’t, and getting the Grenadier into production has already cost an insane amount of money.

Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe recently told Autocar that launching Ineos Automotive has already cost him more than $1.5 billion. He also said he has plans to expand the lineup to four models by 2030 and will likely end up spending more than $4 billion to do so. That’s not exactly “buy Twitter” money, but it’s still more than 99.9999 percent of people will ever make in their lifetimes.

One of the vehicles Ineos plans to launch is a luxury version of the Grenadier, which sounds like a smart business move. It will still be a capable off-roader, as Ratcliffe has decided every Ineos needs to be able to tackle the same Schöckl pass that Mercedes uses to develop the G-Wagen. Adding an actual G-Wagen competitor to the lineup just makes sense.

What’s more ambitious are the plans to add a smaller electric off-roader to the lineup, which will supposedly launch in 2026. It will reportedly use a brand-new dedicated EV platform and have a range of about 250 miles. Speaking about it to Autocar, Ratcliffe said:

It will be smaller than Grenadier and have its own character, but it will still look like a younger brother – the family resemblance will be there. We saw the latest clay model last month, and Toby [Ecuyer, who designed Grenadier] is basically there.

Because it’s electric it will inevitably carry a bit of a weight penalty, but my expectation is that it will still have the range and capability of the Grenadier. We aren’t going to compromise.

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Getting that car on the road by 2026 sounds more than a little ambitious, but at the same time, Ratcliffe sounds like he’s ready to spend the money to make it happen. And Ineos is also working closely with Magna Steyr, so the young automaker won’t be doing it all alone. But still. $4 billion!