Billionaire tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s struggling car company will recall more than 7,000 vehicles in the US following customer complaints of doors opening while driving.
In filings made to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ineos Automotive said it will replace door button assemblies of all Grenadier sport utility vehicles made before April 19 and apply more grease to make sure the doors do not open.
The recall is the latest challenge for the company, which temporarily halted production of the Grenadier last year because of a shortage of seats caused by a supplier insolvency. The model is manufactured at a plant in France.
The Grenadier, marketed as “a rugged, uncompromised off-roader” to replace the discontinued original Land Rover Defender, was launched in 2022 as the first product for the automotive venture by Ratcliffe, chair of Ineos and one of Britain’s richest men.
As of the end of February, Ineos Automotive said it was aware of four related cases of doors opening while the vehicle was in motion and there have been no reports of injury.
It said the defect was likely caused by not enough grease being applied when the door button mechanism was assembled.
“If the door does not latch, it may open while the vehicle is in motion, increasing the risk of injury to passengers inside the vehicle,” the company said in the NHTSA filing.
Ineos Automotive on Wednesday said it was directly contacting owners of all affected vehicles. “Safety is our top priority and we are undertaking a campaign to replace the door lock mechanisms on all affected vehicles as quickly as possible,” it added.
Despite its small scale, Ineos has aggressively expanded its geographical footprint to new markets including Mexico and China. It has sold more than 20,000 Grenadiers in 50 countries.
The Grenadier was derided as a “vanity project” in its early phases, but company executives have insisted the model will return a profit once production has increased to its full level.
Additional reporting by Sylvia Pfeifer in London
