Ineos halts Grenadier production over Recaro seat supply crisis
The lack of one of the key components has caused the halt of Ineos Grenadier production. The super SUV is, of course, available at dealers, but this may cause problems with the delivery of cars configured strictly for the customer. What component is this about?
Ineos has not officially disclosed this, but foreign media directly point to Recaro, which supplies the seats. The German company Recaro Automotive GmbH declared insolvency and thus bankruptcy on 31 July this year. Other manufacturers will manage this, as Recaro typically supplies seats for short car series. Meanwhile, a small manufacturer like Ineos will have to find a new supplier and then undergo homologation testing again.
Of course, these are still just speculations, but very likely, and I don't think there could be another reason. Ineos had planned to produce 20,000 cars by the end of the year and sell more than in 2023, as well as expand its dealer network and enter the Chinese and Mexican markets. So, as they stated in the official communication, "the break is extremely frustrating." Ineos is working on solving the problem to return to full production capacity at the beginning of 2025.
There was also a plan to start production of the electric Ineos Fusilier, but orders never began. Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe admitted that interest in electric SUVs is currently too low. Perhaps the market niche's condition will improve with the electric Mercedes G-Class.
