Why the 2022 Ineos Grenadier looks like an old Land Rover Defender

Ineos Automotive’s hard-as-nails Grenadier off-roader is sure to give the establishment a shake-up when it arrives in Australia, even though it’s still about 12 months away.

But the off-roader has already given Land Rover a working over in the courts, with Ineos winning a courtroom spat over the visual similarities between Land Rover’s superseded Defender and the Grenadier.

As you may have read on this site last year, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) claimed the Grenadier was a copycat version of the old Defender, but the sitting judge ruled in Ineos’ favour, allowing the project to continue.

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A win for JLR would almost certainly have put the whole Grenadier project to the sword.

But the question nobody seems to have asked is why, when the Grenadier was a ground-up exercise and could have been styled any which way Ineos chose, does the end result appear so derivative?

Surely, if it’s not a copycat effort, shouldn’t it look different?

Ineos Automotive’s Australian marketing manager, Tom Smith, said the answer lies in the way form follows function.

“It’s been designed for a purpose, and many of the features and angles and geometry are by-products of that process,” Tom told CarsGuide.

“Anything where form follows function, there’s going to be overlaps in appearance.

“The required approach angle, for instance, means that’s the way the vehicle looks or it won’t get up a hill.

“You could look at a Mercedes G-Wagen or an early Mitsubishi Pajero and see some of those angles in our car, too. Again, it’s what happens when you design something for a specific job, the task dictates the end result.

“Dual-cab trucks (utes) have the same issue; they’re all designed to offer the same abilities and, as a result, they all end up looking similar.”

But Mr Smith was also quick to point out some unique features to the Grenadier which place it further apart from the Defender.

“In fact, the longer you look at our car and its design details, the less it looks like a Defender,” he said.

“For a start there’s our three-piece front bumper that allows for a work platform or even just a seat while maintaining the approach angle.

“The utility rail on the side will accept brush-guards, a flip-up table or even an axe or shovel holder.

“The safari windows totally pop-out, there are tie-downs everywhere and the spare wheel is mounted concave on the rear door, allowing for a lockable storage space inside the rim.

“Under the skin and in the detail, there’s nothing like it. And I guarantee you there’s not a single part – right down to the smallest clip – that is interchangeable with a Defender.”