Ready to take on Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series? First 2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster utes roll off production as spiritual successor to original Land Rover Defender

The six-figure Defender ute successor is on its way, with Ineos Automotive confirming production of the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster ute has commenced about a year after the SUV version.

Hoping to steal sales from the likes of the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series, the Grenadier Quartermaster has been heralded as “probably a little bit better” than Toyota’s veteran by Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder.

A subsection of multinational chemical company Ineos, owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, Ineos Automotive builds both the SUV and Quartermaster ute versions of the Grenadier in Hambach, France, at a former Mercedes-Benz facility, while the upcoming electric variants are to be built in partnership with Austrian firm Magna at its facility in Graz, Austria from 2026.

The Quartermaster uses the same two engine options as the Grenadier SUV - a turbocharged petrol or turbo-diesel version of a BMW 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine, mated to a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Grenadier Quartermaster, named for the military rank responsible for the management and distribution of supplies, has a longer wheelbase than the SUV, by 305mm for a total 3227mm wheelbase, and a payload capacity of “up to 832kg for diesel and 907kg for the petrol variant”.

Ineos Automotive says this allows it to carry “a standard 1200mm x 800mm Euro pallet with ease”.

It also says a cab-chassis model “aimed at conversion specialists and commercial body builders” will enter production next year.

Australian pricing has already been confirmed with the entry-level ‘Quartermaster’ kicking off at $110,000 plus on-roads, up to the Trailmaster edition and Fieldmaster edition, focused at off-road and on-road respectively, both for $123,000.

Order books are open, but deliveries will kick off after European units with “shipments to Asia Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East following” those in its home continent.