UK’s Ineos in talks to build new 4×4 car in France

The Ineos group of Brexit-supporting British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe said Tuesday it was in talks to build a new 4×4 vehicle at a Daimler plant in France, after reviewing its plans in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ineos Automotive had said it was looking to build the Grenadier car — billed as a successor to the iconic Land Rover Defender — partly in Portugal and assemble it in Wales.

The company, part of Ratcliffe’s Ineos chemicals group, said the pandemic had “led to some delays in our development plans, but has also presented some new opportunities in terms of existing manufacturing capacity that were not previously available to us”.

“Specifically, Ineos Automotive has entered detailed discussions with (Daimler’s) Mercedes-Benz on the acquisition of its Hambach site in Moselle, France,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“We have therefore suspended the post-lockdown resumption of work at our sites in Wales and Portugal pending the outcome of this review. Further updates will follow in the coming weeks.”

A Daimler spokesperson told AFP: “We can confirm that Ineos Automotive is a potential buyer (of the Hambach plant) and we are going to have discussions.”

Ineos Grenadier, described by the British company as “a stripped back, utilitarian, hard-working 4×4”, was to enter production in late 2021 at a new factory in Wales, creating an initial 200 jobs, the group said in unveiling the car’s design last week.

Deliveries were to start first in Britain and Europe, and further afield afterwards, after a total investment totalling £1.0 billion ($1.2 billion, 1.08 billion euros).

The plans come at a time when the auto sector worldwide has seen sales and production crushed by COVID-19 lockdowns shutting factories and showrooms, although many have since reopened.

Car enthusiast Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man who was a leading business voice for the Brexit divorce from the EU, identified a gap in the market for a rugged new 4×4 after the final Land Rover Defender was produced in 2016.

Last week’s design announcement showed marked similarities to the old Defender, which has now been replaced by a more urban-friendly vehicle from Land Rover.

Ratcliffe’s move into car manufacturing follows a failed attempt by British inventor James Dyson, another Brexit supporter, who last year pulled the plug on plans to build an electric car.

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