By Khulekani Dumisa

Ineos, the manufacturer of the Grenadier, seen by some as the spiritual successor of the original Defender, has confirmed that the car will go on sale in July 2022. The public will be able to start placing orders from 14 October 2021.

The general public will fall behind a group of some 75,000 people that have now raised their hands as prospective buyers of the vehicle. These ‘handraisers’ will be able to place a build reservation from 30^th September, for an exclusive two-week period.

Never further than 50km away from an Ineos-accredited workshop

Ineos says its striking agreements with retail and aftersales partners around the world to establish up to 200 sales and service points for the July 2022 launch of the Grenadier 4X4.

These partners will implement a global aftersales blueprint developed by Ineos together with Robert Bosch GmbH over the last three years. Retail partners will form the backbone of the service network, with additional geographical coverage provided by hand-picked Bosch Car Service outlets.

The comprehensive service network means most customers will never be further than 50km away from an Ineos-accredited workshop. Where spare parts are not on the shelf, Ineos is targeting delivery to major markets within 24 hours.

Local availability and pricing

In South Africa, Ineos has signed agreements with two partners to run three retail and service sites:

• SMH Group to cover Gauteng (Johannesburg and Pretoria); and
• SMG to cover Cape Town and Durban.

Additional hand-picked service-only sites will provide further aftersales coverage.

Prices in South Africa will start from R1,395,000. This dashes the hope that the Ineos Grenadier will come it at Fortuner fighting prices and places squarely in the line of fire of the new Defender and LC300. These are both established players but only time will tell how the Grenadier fares.