It looks quite like the original Land Rover and seems set to cost much the same as the Defender did in its final fling presentations.

ANOTHER commonality between the original Land Rover Defender and its modern counterpart from Ineos has revealed: A $90,000-plus price tag.

The starting price for the cheapest of three versions of the Grenadier, a clean-sheet spiritual successor to the classic Landie, is $95,000.

That buys the base entry point vehicle, in two seat but five door configuration and is around the same money as was asked for the last of the 90-Series Land Rovers in pretty much the same layout (if you accept the side-mounted flip-down perches in the back were near to useless).

The closest contemporary in our market is the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series family, which no longer appears to carry a recommended retail, with the Toyota New Zealand website advising it is out of stock in all variants.

Beyond the basic package, which is simply called Grenadier, there’s a more hardcore Trailmaster and more luxurious Fieldmaster Trialmaster. The first runs on steel rims and has more outdoors kit than the second, which takes alloys but provisions with extras including carpet and heated seats. Both of those cost $107,225.

The firm says the Trialmaster has been ‘specified with extreme off-roading in mind’ – as such it achieves a snorkel air-intake, an access ladder and an auxiliary battery – whereas it cites Fieldmaster as being ‘designed for those with an adventure lifestyle’.

All versions of the French-built, Austrian-engineered and British-conceived new 4x4 run BMW 3.0-litre, turbocharged straight-six engines in diesel or petrol, these in each case married to an eight-speed automatic gearbox with manual override.

The assembly line in Hambach, France, - a former Smart car factory bought from Mercedes in 2020 - begins in July. Interested Kiwis can place orders via the brand’s international website from mid-May.

The model is represented by Armstrong’s Group and will feature in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin dealerships.

Ineos is operating an agency model with its retailers, rather than a traditional franchise system. That means the contract is between the buyer and Ineos rather than the retailer, with the dealership used for demonstration, delivery and after-sales.

Media in Britain say so far Ineos has had 18,000 people register an interest in buying a Grenadier, with around three times that number on their general database of Grenadier fans.

However, only 2000 people are likely to get their cars in 2024, with an annual peak volume expected of between 5500 and 6000 cars.