INEOS in no hurry to adopt safety tech for Grenadier

Off-road brand INEOS is in no hurry to tell drivers how to drive and has no plans to introduce the latest advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to its Grenadier portfolio, all because the company says customers don’t want them.

“We haven’t introduced those features on the Australian models yet,” INEOS Automotive Asia Pacific boss Justin Hocevar told carsales.

“It’s a safe vehicle and it’s a crash tested vehicle; it’s passed the European passenger car safety requirements.”

Whereas driver aids such as lane keep assistance, blind spot warning, driver monitoring and speed sign recognition are now commonplace across the industry, they’re nowhere to be seen in the Grenadier wagon and dual-cab Quartermaster ute.

And being classified as a light truck (using the NB1 classification), the Grenadier doesn’t even have autonomous emergency braking that’s now mandated for passenger cars.

Hocevar said the lack of such assistance systems is appealing to some four-wheel drive enthusiasts who want the basics done well and less in the way of technology that can potentially go wrong in remote areas.

“We’re probably finding more people come to the brand going ‘I like the vehicle without ADAS features’ than people turning around and saying ‘I wouldn’t take that for lack of ADAS features’,” he said, adding that many INEOS owners take pride in their driving.

“They’re enthusiasts, they’ve driven a lot of cars. They’ve evolved as drivers in an era without a lot of devices that need to support their driving.

“They’re confident, they’re capable, they’re experienced, they know what they’re doing and they’re not really seeking electronic intervention of their driving.”

He was adamant the Grenadier is still safe and that owners look for that when researching a car but said they don’t want to have tech that is overbearing.

“They still want safety features … and a vehicle that’s been crash tested and safe,” Hocevar said. “But they don’t necessarily want an electronic device tapping them on the shoulder every five minutes and saying do this or do that.”

Many driver assistance features are available in the Grenadier overseas and the top exec conceded it will ultimately need the added safety.

“I think that we may need to introduce it at some point in time to open it up to other customers,” he said before adding that for now, at least, it was a “watch and act” approach on the tech.

“So far that hasn’t been a compelling reason to introduce it.”

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