Chicken Drumstick Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 I've not seen anything mentioned by Ineos or the press in relation to this. But for me, this would seem quite a critical part of the puzzle in making the vehicle a success. Where do you go to buy one? And how would it be serviced & maintained under warranty? I'm not sure how they are going to do this. Will it be online sales and delivery? Tesla seem to be making this work, although I don't really know the success of this kind of setup. I guess for 'fleet' buyers or even larger commercial buyers, they are less fussed about test drives anyway. And probably already buy multiple vehicles without ever seeing them. Will the team up with BMW somehow? Your thoughts on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 It remains an interesting and as yet unresolved part of the puzzle. We also haven't seen an actual vehicle yet, but I can suspend disbelief for the purposes of theoretical discussion. I have a medium-sized fleet of commercial vehicles at work and we buy them direct from the manufacturers as you can imagine, they are delivered straight to our workshops where they are maintained & serviced by us and only really go back for recalls or similar. As such a local dealer network is inconsequential - especially in the highlands as the local dealers are all 100+ miles away anyway. Smaller operators or singe commercial customers such as the much-lauded farmer market will rely a lot more on the local network. I can't ever see them having their own premises as the investment required would be vast, so I reckon they will piggy-back off someone else yes. BMW are a good shout as they have an existing relationship and crucially they don't offer a vehicle which the Grenadier could be seen to be competing with. Whether they would be happy with rough working folk muddying up their nice showrooms and scaring off the "financed to the hilt to keep up with the Jones's" brigade... who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Chicken Drumstick said: Will the team up with BMW somehow? I think Mercedes is much more likely. And they don't care about grubby people coming into the commercial side of the dealerships. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gazzar Posted July 28, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 28, 2020 How about the JLR network? After all, they're not competing either. 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 1 hour ago, elbekko said: I think Mercedes is much more likely. And they don't care about grubby people coming into the commercial side of the dealerships. It has BMW engines in them, not sure how this would go down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 I'd say that it would make more sense for Ineos to partner with one of the large agricultural/industrial-machinery manufacturers so they can piggy-back on an existing service/support-network that already understands the needs of commercial customers. John Deere? Cat? JCB? They've all got the sort of global reach and established infrastructure needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 27 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: It has BMW engines in them, not sure how this would go down! Yeah, that's strange. But also a fairly good marketing connection with Mercedes now they're sponsoring the F1 team (and the drivers were publicising the launch). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 1 minute ago, Tanuki said: I'd say that it would make more sense for Ineos to partner with one of the large agricultural/industrial-machinery manufacturers so they can piggy-back on an existing service/support-network that already understands the needs of commercial customers. John Deere? Cat? JCB? They've all got the sort of global reach and established infrastructure needed. This is something I've thought of before. And I believe has been done with things like the Lada Niva, but not sure if it would be a somewhat negative tone for regular punters who aren't in farming. Also I'm not certain how comprehensive these networks are, seems there are a lot of Ag places and a lot of different companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 1 minute ago, elbekko said: Yeah, that's strange. But also a fairly good marketing connection with Mercedes now they're sponsoring the F1 team (and the drivers were publicising the launch). Yeah, than you have this: https://www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-automotive/news/mbtech-engineering-partner/ It is like they are tying themselves up in knots a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 I'm hoping they go down the agricultural route as I live in Melton Mowbray and there are a lot of sheep and cows here! Other than warranty work I don't much care, I am comfortable about avoiding dealers wherever possible. This is supposed to be a utility vehicle, so shiny showrooms and expensive coffee should not be necessary. (Although the price tags on big tractors and combines would make even a MB dealer blush). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 On 7/28/2020 at 3:56 PM, Bowie69 said: Yeah, than you have this: https://www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-automotive/news/mbtech-engineering-partner/ It is like they are tying themselves up in knots a bit That was back in 2018, so they haven't moved forward very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Member Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 On 7/28/2020 at 7:19 AM, elbekko said: I think Mercedes is much more likely. And they don't care about grubby people coming into the commercial side of the dealerships. Mercedes has zero to do with this project....and specifically declined to supply the powertrain. 90% chance it is sold and serviced via the BMW network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Member Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 On 7/28/2020 at 8:56 AM, Bowie69 said: Yeah, than you have this: https://www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-automotive/news/mbtech-engineering-partner/ It is like they are tying themselves up in knots a bit That fell through. They are using Steyr now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Ah ok, hadn't realised it fell through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 I can’t find anything where it says it fell through - they were awarded a 2 year contract in 2018, with 200 people working on the early design and development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 https://www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-automotive/news/mbtech-engineering-partner/ back a while ago, 15/02/2018 - "engineering partner" https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ineos-partners-major-engineering-firm-grenadier-development, 17/12/2019 - "development partner" I'd guess that MBtech developed the concept and built the original mules. I expect that Magna Styer have to productionise the resultant pile of bolts and subassemblies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 I think you are right - and it would be unusual on a project of that scale to have a single delivery partner - they’ll have all sorts of commercial arrangements for different skills and costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 On 7/28/2020 at 3:50 PM, elbekko said: Yeah, that's strange. But also a fairly good marketing connection with Mercedes now they're sponsoring the F1 team (and the drivers were publicising the launch). When I went through the F1 Ineos links it shows them promoting PPE not cars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 From Bottas' instagram. Think the Merc F1 page on FB posted about it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 The chap in the video I posted in the ‘wrong engine thread’ suspects they may have sales and support agreements with BMW, citing the engine connection and the fact that BMW doesn’t have any full on 4x4’s to give a conflict of interests. If that came to pass - I wonder if it may be done as the mini is - as a kind of affiliated product sold out of a different showroom. I did wonder about Mercedes early on - but that was before I realised that MB and Steyr work with lots of brands besides Mercedes, and before they had picked the BMW engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 Who is Bottas sorry ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 Valterri Bottas, drives second car for mercedes F1 team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 9 hours ago, Anderzander said: .........and the fact that BMW doesn’t have any full on 4x4’s to give a conflict of interests. I chuckled when I saw that as the usual vehicle we fish out of Watery Gate or Slash Lane in Leicestershire is a BMW X5 driven by a numpty, (L&R4x4Response trustee and controller). That vehicle seems to have been designed to be drowned in a cup of water. Let's hope that they design a decent induction system for it, or it will fail at the first puddle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vogler Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Here's an opportunity to chuckle some more. Make sure to look at the whole thing, so you can fully enjoy the last two seconds. I couldn't help but laugh out loudly: 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 I take your point - somebody has to bring the food and drink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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