UK automaker plans to tap UAE market

Inayat-ur-Rahman, Business Editor

INEOS Automotive, a leading UK’s carmaker company plans to tap the UAE auto market. Built from the ground up on an all-new platform, the INEOS Grenadier, which recently has touched the UAE roads has been designed on purpose: namely to meet the demands of its future owners for a rugged, capable and comfortable go-anywhere working vehicle.

George Ratcliffe, Commercial Director, INEOS Automotive told Gulf Today that his company sees huge potential in the UAE auto market, adding that they have sold out around 600 cars and they are planning to shift around 1,100 vehicles to the emirates this year.

He noted that they started selling the cars six months ago in Europe but they are interested to enter the GCC market as currently the UAE and Saudi Arabia are one the biggest markets for them.

Answering to a question about the price of INEOS Grenadier, Ratcliffe mentioned that the price of the base model is around Dhs 289,000, adding that the premium models costs around 8,000 euros more than the base model.

He echoed that currently the Hambach facility located in Northern France is manufacturing around 30, 000 vehicles per annum, adding that they are planning to increase the production to around 50,000 per year soon.

“Modern engineering and production techniques ensure the Grenadier is highly capable, but we have been able to stay true to the essence of creating a utilitarian vehicle that will stand the test of time.”

In 2017, INEOS Chairman Jim Ratcliffe, a car enthusiast and experienced adventurer, identified a gap in the market for an uncompromising 4X4 engineered for modern day compliance and reliability. INEOS Automotive Limited was formed and a senior team of automotive professionals assembled to bring the vision to reality with a fresh perspective of 4x4 development and manufacturing.