Ineos Automotive has unveiled a new marketing campaign, deliberately poking fun at the rival Land Rover Defender.
The provocative ‘Us vs. Them’ message is intended to differentiate the Grenadier 4×4 from ‘regular school-run SUVs and soft-roading crossovers’, according to Ineos.
Leading the campaign is a poster that pictures a muddy Grenadier squaring-up to clean Land Rover Defender.
To ensure the message hits home, Ineos had the advertisement placed on a digital billboard right next to the Lookers Park Royal Jaguar Land Rover showroom in West London.
Demonstrating the difference
Ineos and Land Rover are no strangers to rivalry, following years of legal battles between the two companies.
In 2020, Land Rover lost a ruling to trademark the shape of the original Defender, opening the door for Ineos to start production of the Grenadier.
“We’ve held our tongues while winning the court cases over and over again, and we feel it’s now time to set the record straight. We’re not them and we’re not trying to be them,” said Lynn Calder, CEO at Ineos Automotive.
“Good luck to the others: they’re cool cars. But we’re tired of the comparisons. To be clear, this is all about saying we’re different.”
New battles on the horizon
Last year, Ineos had to temporarily halt production of the Grenadier 4×4 and related Quartermaster pickup truck.
A supply chain issue, believed to be related to German seat manufacturer Recaro entering insolvency, led to Ineos stopping production of vehicles in September 2024.
The company’s factory in Hambach, France, was able to start building cars again in January this year. Ineos is now targeting major expansion in China, Mexico and the United States for 2025.
However, the introduction of tariffs on imported cars by the United States could impact those plans. Because its manufacturing facility is in the European Union, Ineos products will be hit by a 25 percent tariff on vehicles sold in the USA.
Lynn Calder added: “This is what happens when politicians sit on their hands. As a growing, EU-based automobile brand, we are vulnerable to tariffs, and we need our politicians to support our business, our jobs and our economies. We need urgent and direct political intervention on tariffs.”
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