'Our influence as a region is quite strong': Strong sales for Ineos Grenadier and Quartermaster ute in Australia could see local arm become a powerhouse for the brand

Despite Australia’s relatively small stature in the world’s new car market, there are some spaces the nation well and truly punches above its weight in - just like the Olympic medal tally.

While we’re not quite as EV-mad as Europe or into sedans as China, when it comes to the popularity rugged utes and 4WDs, Australia is a world leader.

Or at least that’s what the local arm of Ineos has found in its first year of selling cars here.

If you’re not aware yet, Ineos Automotive specifically is the car-making arm of Ineos, the chemical company owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe. Ineos Automotive kicked off in the hopes of continuing the manufacture of the original Land Rover Defender in 2016.

Land Rover said no to providing the tooling, so Ratcliffe started an automotive arm for his business, planned out a spiritual successor to the Defender despite Land Rover’s rejection, and the Ineos Grenadier was born - named for the pub where Ratcliffe had the idea almost a decade ago.

In the time since the Grenadier's launch in June 2023 Ineos has shifted more than 1500 Grenadiers, with the brand’s Head of Asia-Pacific Justin Hocevar telling CarsGuide Australia is shaping up to be one of the world’s key markets.

Ineos Grenadier

“I think at the end of July, we will be now north of 1500 units we would have put on the roads. So we launched our first cars in June 2023 - in just over a year now,” Hocevar told us, adding that per-capita Australia would be far and away number one in the world.

The figures aren’t published in a monthly industry report by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries as almost every car brand is.

“The reason we are not on vFacts for sales is quite simply that we just haven't seen the need to be a member of the FCAI,” he said.

“We probably will join them at some point in time. But we don't really have any mission to lobby anything through them at the moment. And in our early days, we've been just busy delivering our orders. Everything that we could get was sold. So I think that'll probably change.

Ineos Grenadier

“We're not in the business of hiding our numbers from anybody or anything like that. It's not like that sort of Tesla launch where ‘we're not telling anybody’.”

Hocevar’s admission that the brand is in less of a hurry to fill orders now, isn’t a sign that the brand’s sales are slowing. It seems the focus for Ineos Australia is now on making a wider audience aware of its presence as it launches the Quartermaster, which it hopes will be a competitive rival to the the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series.

“It is interesting, because that question about awareness is probably one of our biggest challenges now I would say. We had a lot of pent up demand off the back of five years of testing in plain sight, where everybody was very excited," said Hocevar.

“We had a really solid order bank that carried us for that first year and once we started delivering vehicles we were so ‘head down, bum up’ focused on getting that job done that we didn't do a lot of marketing. 

“I think that what we've come to realise now is that that awareness amongst the real pointy end of the 4X4 community is quite high. And for everybody else, it's quite low.

Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster

“So you know, we need to really now - particularly that we've moved from just the station wagon, to also having the Quartermaster and now the cab chassis - we've got a big job to do to let everybody know that there is an alternative out there that competes in this kind of large 4X4 SUV space,” he said.

Hocevar said getting Australians interested in the Grenadier - so far through means like supporting the Big Red Bash and its sibling festival the Mundi Mundi Bash - has been relatively successful given how the country punches above its weight with off-road enthusiasm.

“We're not the size of the US of course, but we're an important market here in Australia, and we're a really important region, because this Melbourne office also supports the rest of the APAC region. 

“So we've now stood up distribution for Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia. Malaysia is just about to launch and we've got Singapore and Indonesia in the making. 

“We're launching China in the final quarter of this year. So our influence as a region is quite strong. This is the regional office, and we’ve set up an office in Shanghai.”

Not only is the country ripe for 4WD sales, but Hocevar said his experience in the industry, his tenure at Ineos compared to other regional heads, and the team behind him have meant that Australia and APAC have become key markets for the Ineos Automotive brand, to the point where Australia has a strong say when it comes to product planning.

“I'm probably one of the longest lasting regional heads globally in the business,” Hocevar said.

Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster

“I've been [at Ineos] for over four, nearly four and a half years now. So, you know, a long time before we were building production cars, when we were still putting together our business case and our pricing strategies and marketing, etc, around the world.

“Australia, the team and I had a say, and we still do. We've always got a seat at the table. Our commercial director or CEO, our chairman of the board are people that can be called on or WhatsApp’d, at any time of the day or night to get a message through.

“I participate in the forums where I can relay that message of the Australian market to them.

“I think I've got a good feel for this market. I've spent a lot of time engaging with customers and prospects and our network alike. I love to be a champion of their views to help shape what we do and fly the flag for what's going to be best for us down here as well.

“So yeah, I think, particularly when it comes to Quartermaster and cab-chassis, we're number one market cab-chassis, we're just launching now and already we're number one in terms of order ride and demand. And I think we’ll be a really prominent player for Quartermaster, the tub version as well.”