I am not convinced that the delays are only due to legal reasons - contracts etc.
We know that all PTO and test drive vehicles were operated without functioning airbags and lockers. That was the case until the end of 2022. So obviously Ineos couldn't test those parts.
Now there are rumors that a certain firmware in the cars, especially related to the airbags, is the culprit. I'm not surprised by that. It looks like the company had - for whatever reason - delayed airbag testing too long, and now they're footing the bill. There could be other problems, too, but it's the airbag thing in particular that's leaked to the public.
I imagine that since airbags are a very critical component for various reasons (explosives ...), they are subject to intensive testing and approval procedures. And the moment a government agency is involved, you can just forget about any timeline.
Everything else - international contracts and global rollout - may be new to Ineos Automotive, but not to Ineos. I suspect that Ineos has a worldwide network of the best lawyers that can be afforded, and they would of course act for Ineos Automotive for a fee if it were necessary.
But the approval process for a product is a regulatory thing, there's nothing you can do about it. I once built a house. With an approval process that is actually a purely routine matter. But it took months to get through the regulatory process, and there was just nothing I could do but wait.
If an airbag system doesn't work properly or there's a tiny error, if even an indicator light doesn't light up properly, the thing hangs with the authorities and many tasks in the process have to be worked through from the beginning.
![[ Adam ]](/data/avatars/s/9046/9046040.jpg?1705937698){kind=avatar}
