• Ineos trolls Land Rover using mobile billboards parked near its headquarters and dealerships.
  • The campaign highlights Ineos’ off-road focus by mocking modern luxury SUVs’ softer image.
  • The billboard echoes past automotive brand feuds, including BMW’s cheeky rivalry with Audi.

Automakers love a good rivalry, especially when it gives them an excuse to park a muddy SUV in front of a competitor’s headquarters. Ineos launched its automotive brand several years ago, but it’s still working to gain market share. To do that, it’s decided to throw a few elbows at the big kids on the playground.

The latest effort? A cheeky campaign called “Us vs Them,” which kicks off with a very pointed trip to Solihull in the UK, home turf of Rover. Ineos rolled up with a Grenadier caked in mud and parked it right outside Land Rover’s plant. Subtlety was not the objective.

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Ineos intentionally stands out as an off-road-focused brand. It’s not about fancy screens, exceptional on-road manners, or achieving the world’s lowest drag coefficient. Instead, it’s about “an uncompromising 4X4 engineered for modern day compliance and reliability.” At least, that’s what Ineos says. To put a spotlight on its work, it decided to take a billboard to Land Rover’s Solihull plant.

A Not-So-Subtle Challenge

The billboard shows a Defender facing a Grenadier. The latter is caked in mud, and the ad reads “Let’s take this outside,” seemingly referring to a battle off-road. It also bought a similar billboard near JLR’s showroom in West London.

According to MotoringResearch, Ineos claims that the ad is “intended to differentiate the Grenadier 4×4 from ‘regular school-run SUVs and soft-roading crossovers.’ If true, we’re not sure why it’s targeting the Defender. If any Land Rover is capable of outdueling an Ineos, that’s probably the one.

Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
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Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard
Land Rover Trolled In Public By A Muddy SUV And A Rolling Billboard

The reality here is that while Ineos provides some excellent off-road models, it’s nowhere near the success that Land Rover is. This feels sort of like an influencer trying to gain notoriety by mocking a professional Hall-of-Fame athlete. No doubt, there are consumers out there who feel like Land Rover sold out a bit. At the same time, it’s easy to see how Land Rover has matured as a brand over the years. Ineos unquestionably hopes to be that successful one day.

A Playbook from the Past

If this all feels familiar, it might be because we’ve seen this play before. Some of you may remember the infamous BMW vs. Audi billboard duel, a lighthearted feud that ended up boosting both brands’ profiles. Or remember when Audi threw shade at Tesla by calling the E-Tron Sportback a “Musk Have”? Then there was the time Mercedes and Jaguar got into a spat that felt more like a luxury soap opera than a marketing campaign. Turns out, a little well-placed trolling goes a long way.

Whether Land Rover responds or not, Ineos has already won a few headlines. And if we’re lucky, maybe Land Rover’s working on a billboard that reads, “Call us when you’ve sold 20,000 SUVs.”