INEOS Automotive has announced the initial agency network in Australia and New Zealand which will deliver the new Grenadier 4×4 wagon from the fourth quarter of 2022.
The British start-up manufacturer is following the model used by Honda and Mercedes-Benz Australia, retaining ownership of stock and demonstrator vehicles, and paying retailers a set fee per vehicle sold.
INEOS Automotive says it will launch in Australia with around 16 dealers. In New South Wales it has signed agreements with Purnell Motors in Blakehurst, Sydney, Fraser Motorcycles in Broadmeadows, Newcastle, and John Oxley Motors in Port Macquarie.
In Victoria INEOS Automotive has signed agreements with Brighton Automotive Holdings in Melbourne, Rex Gorell Group in Geelong, and Aaron Brain Motors in Shepparton. In Tasmania it has signed an agreement with Buckby Motors in Launceston.
In Queensland INEOS Automotive has signed agreements with SLRV Expedition in the Gold Coast, QLD, and Caravana in Brisbane.
In New Zealand Armstrong’s will become the INEOS Automotive retail partner in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.
INEOS Automotive Asia Pacific head of sales and marketing Justin Hocevar says the brand is selecting retail partners that share its service-first attitude and commitment to customer needs and preferences.
Hocevar says the physical retail presence will be matched by digital services to give Grenadier customers the buying experience they want and the aftersales support they need.
“We’re looking for the right location, the right facility and the right staff in an agent, we’re not looking for a gin palace, we just want a comfortable facility to welcome our customers, preferably with a simple polished concrete floor,” Hocevar says.
“Customers will be able to move from the digital space to bricks and mortar and back again as they choose,” he says.
He says INEOS Automotive has removed negotiation from the buying process with transparent pricing and there will be simplified trade-in and financing arrangements made available.
According to Hocevar, customers won’t just get a drive around the block in a Grenadier demonstrator, they’ll be able to take the vehicle away for a proper test drive and get it dirty.
Online reservations for the Grenadier open from September 30 for early prospective customers who expressed a strong interest in being among the first to buy a Grenadier – and from October 14 for all other interested buyers. Global sales of the Grenadier will begin in July 2022.
Hocevar says the company will then seek to convert those reservations into confirmed orders next year, with deliveries to begin in the fourth quarter of 2022.
INEOS Automotive says it has worked with Bosch over the last three years to develop a global aftersales blueprint.
It says in Australia and New Zealand servicing for the Grenadier will be provided by retail partners and by hand-picked Bosch Car Service sites.
It also says that enthusiasts, modifiers, and those who wish to work on their own vehicles will benefit from specialist technical support from INEOS Automotive headquarters and will have access to online interactive 3D workshop manuals and parts catalogues
Where parts are not immediately available, INEOS Automotive says it is targeting 24-hour delivery into major markets.
A protoype right-hand-drive Grenadier 4×4 wagon has arrived in Australia for local testing ahead of series production which will begin in Hambach, France next year. Both left- and right-hand vehicle production will begin at the same time according to Hocevar.
Hocevar also says that the Grendier will be offered with both petrol and diesel engines at price parity, there will not be a premium charged for the diesel versions.
Prices are expected to start from $84,500 for the Australian market for the two-seat Grenadier wagon.
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