Ineos revs up for launch of Land Rover Defender successor with hire of former Bentley marketing director Mark Tennant
Chemicals giant Ineos today announced it has hired the former marketing director of Bentley Motors to lead the marketing of its new 4×4, billed as the “spiritual successor” to the Land Rover Defender.
Mark Tennant joins the firm as commercial director and will be tasked with leading Ineos Automotive’s sales, marketing and distribution options.
Tennant said:
It was the Land Rover Defender that first brought me into the automotive industry nearly 25 years ago, so to be part of the Ineos team developing a spiritual successor to the Defender and its fellow 4×4 pioneers is a great opportunity.
Exciting projects such as this do not come along every day and I am thrilled to be part of this new venture.
Read more: Ineos to launch legal challenge to Scottish government’s fracking ban
Tennant joins as commercial director (Source: Ineos)
As well as previously serving as the marketing director at Bentley, Tennant has headed up Guava International, responsible for managing Jaguar Land Rover’s business across developing markets.
Dirk Heilmann, Ineos Automotive’s chief executive, said Tennant had “a strong track record of automotive sales and marketing”.
The billionaire boss of Ineos, Jim Ratcliffe, previously decided he wanted to plug the gap left in the market when Land Rover stopped production on its famous 4×4 in 2016. Plans have since got underway for a new traditional off-roader in what it has dubbed Projekt Grenadier, which the firm has committed £600m to.
A range of models are planned for sale across the world, including multiple wheel-base options, along with diesel, petrol and hybrid engines for different markets.
Ineos has been whittling down the choices for a site to build the new vehicle on, though Ratcliffe said “ideally, we would like to build it in the UK, because certainly I have a bit of a passion for UK manufacturing”.
It expects to announce its selection and the first designs of the vehicle this year.
Ineos’ timeline for Projekt Grenadier:
Read more: Ineos’ Land Rover Defender successor might not be made in the UK