Isn't that what I told? If you're not sponsored by Mother Inc. Ltd. like many other car manufacturers (Aston Martin (which belongs to ProDrive), Bentley, etc.) it is difficult to survive. Now Ineos is facing a hard chemical business. The chemical business is forced to painful austerity measures and has heavy expenditures themselves (Project One Antwerp, China plant and some acquisitions of te last year like a plant in the south of France), so JR needs to step back from all his "interests" which doesn't earn a cent.
And I assume we can agree that IA is far from selling 50k units a year....I predict, they never will.
I am still convinced that they have better started with a more mass compatible cheaper entry modell, leaving the fancy stuff for the more (and less) healthy ones (and thereby agreeing with what APSW was claiming). Doing so generates a steady income. But beside missing this I believe that their non- and bad communication as well as quality issues doesn't do them a favour. Especially in the beginning when JR forced deliveries while the car wasn't ready (remember the weeks were the cars were sitting at the dealer, parts had to be changed etc.) cost them a lot of reputation (and money). Which guy who runs a business can afford having his Grenadier sitting at the dealer for six weeks. And not all cars can be substituted with a loaner. If you sell commercial cars the might be modified to transport tools etc. A loaner doesn't help here. The price kills the Grenadier for a broader commercial use, as well. As it does for the VW Amarok, MB X-Class, etc.
Of course, you see nothing of that in the media, there is everything fine&shine. But the talk behind closed doors within the small 4x4 scene (at least in Europe) was anything but hepful. I had a lot conversations with people doing business with the Grenadier and need a good reputation but at the bar with a beer in our hands, they were very unhappy with Ineos.
You can like or love the Grenadier and see Ineos as a holy company with JR as the high priest, but the numbers doesn't care about that. And I repeat myself, don't forget, Ineos growth in business is one of buying and selling (already) running companies in a market where money was earned relatively easy (the last decades). Ineos almost never raised something on their own. So don't confuse their success in the chemical business with other buisinesses they do, like building cars. In addition, they are facing a lot of challenges, because countries and companies try to become more independent of China. That means, that chemical capacities are increasing globally as new plants are raised in different countries, generating more competition in a market which doesn't change its size at the same time, in fact which is deacreasing actually.
AWo
