Australasia Australian East Coast "Q&A and Tech Talk"Tour

[FrankieJ]

Was there any mention of the LWB Grenadier?

Thanks

 

[Clark Kent]

Was there any mention of the LWB Grenadier?

Thanks

No mention by IA and no one asked about it.

 

[DenisM]

Further to Clark Kent's excellent summary, a couple of items of interest arose from discussion with the Ineos engineering chaps around a vehicle they had on a hoist:
* the rear wheel bearings are not compatible with the front wheel bearings.. so no swapping or substitution.
* IF you think you might have to replace the rear bearings at some stage ...don't wait until you're on a trip. Do it well before hand.
The specified torque on the retaining nut is a mere 600Nm! That's a long pipe extension on a socket!
* The standard diff breathers are spring loaded. Carraro uses the same setup on axles supplied for large Isuzu trucks. The bearing seals are covered by an external flange which supposedly precludes water entry. However the engineers had no issue with fitting breathers with extended tubes if people preferred to do so.
If I think of other details I'll post accordingly.

 

[Tazzieman]

The specified torque on the retaining nut is a mere 600Nm!

My Porsche 928 was only 434! I borrowed a truck torque wrench.

 

[bigleonski]

Nothing more to add other than great to meet Clark Kent and DenisM, if you ever get a chance to meet either the tech guys from Ineos or from your local agent in a talkative mood grab it with both hands, and how good is it to see an entire street full with Grenadiers of all colours and set ups and to chat to people as excited to be owners as you are.

And it’s great to hear from a regional head of a car compny talk about how passionate they are about the brand (and obviously mean it), but also to be up front and honest about the challenges they face, the ways they have let down their customers at times, but the commitment they have to getting it right.

 

[bakepl]

I attended this event last night as a guest of bigleonski. Was an absolute pleasure to meet him and DenisM. I'm sure there would have been a few other forum members there.
A great event put on by a local agent and the Ineos Automotive Australia leadership team. Maybe 50+ folks present as a mix of current owners and interested future owners. Wall to wall Grenadiers in every spec and colour/color .
A few points that stuck in my mind overnight:
1. About 1300 Grenadier sales locally by the end of this month. Tiny market versus the UK, EU and US markets but a good initial take up against stiff competition. US is winning on sales and is absorbing most of the current production capacity.
2. Software is the biggest vehicle issue, with the AU/NZ and some SA markets impacted by a GPS signal timing issue which affects Apple Carplay, the Compass (if fitted) and Pathfinder. A fix for this may be about 4 weeks away. The software is currently undergoing validation in Stuttgart. Several (10?) vehicles are running the fix locally with good results.
3. IA acknowledged that their backend enterprise systems have let them and customers down quite badly. Affects orders, invoicing, tracking, etc. Justin suggested IA should have started the enterprise backend 1-2 years earlier. It is still getting many $M thrown at it to make it perform to expectation.
4. 100% commitment to delivering the promised access to workshop manuals, although perhaps not as fully featured as the version that agents get. Many issues surrounding this project including a suitable delivery platform (web-based) and legal aspects. Justin suggested we may see more on this in Q4/2024.
5. A$10M of spares holdings currently in the Melbourne Australia parts hub. Some parts remain in short supply.
6. The 'broken front driveshaft' was caused by a dislodged circlip. It could have been reassembled and put back in but IA opted to replace the shaft for expediency.
7. No clear root cause identified for the Stockton Beach vehicle fire. Assessment so far is that it was not related to a fuel (leakage) or electrical fault. IA Stuttgart want the vehicle shipped to them for further investigation but there are quarantine issues because the vehicle is full of beach sand and chemical residue from the burnt galvanized frame coating.
8. The first Quartermaster has landed in Australia for validation. First customer vehicles about a month behind that.
9. Quartermaster cab-chassis mentioned but no new details offered. Will go head to head on sales against the Toyota 79 series cab-chassis in Australia.
10. Future Grenadier MY is likely to require a 24V mild hybrid setup to achieve Euro7 emission standards.
11. Fusilier mentioned in passing. Likely release for MY26/27. BEV plus combustion engine 'range extender', i.e. an onboard battery charger.
12. Hydrogen is still in the growth plan. Bottle neck is the lack of filling station infrastructure.

That's my recollection. If you were there please add your inputs below.

Thank you for the update, very much appreciated. When you say sales locally, is this Australia wide? If so did they mention if sales were close to expectation or spectacularly exceeding them? Have to wonder what effect the two considerable price rises have had on sales since the original 'early adopter' price which at that time and all things considering, made the vehicle an attractive proposition in terms of value. Maybe it was a smart move for Ineos and forecast sales remain on target?

 

[Clark Kent]

Thank you for the update, very much appreciated. When you say sales locally, is this Australia wide? If so did they mention if sales were close to expectation or spectacularly exceeding them? Have to wonder what effect the two considerable price rises have had on sales since the original 'early adopter' price which at that time and all things considering, made the vehicle an attractive proposition in terms of value. Maybe it was a smart move for Ineos and forecast sales remain on target?

G'day bakepl. I saw your latest pics. Your Grenadier is looking good.

Justin was quoting the Australian and New Zealand sales to end March. Given the market choices available I got a sense that IA are quite happy with that number, but no indication how the price increases have impacted sales. Justin did share that their customer demographic has evolved from the early sales which was mostly 'technical' customers attracted to the vehicle capabilities. They're now seeing more high end and luxury buyers coming across. The local agent Martin echoed this with a story of a customer who was coming out of an Audi Q7. This change is possibly due to price increases and budget, or could be the timing of lease expiries.