INEOS Grenadier production moves to ex-Smart factory

INEOS Automotive will build its INEOS Grenadier 4x4 in a former Daimler plant in France that currently manufactures the pure-electric Smart EQ ForTwo.

Originally the car-maker, which is backed by Brexit-supporting billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, was to build its first vehicle in an all-new facility in Wales with the promise of up to 500 new jobs.

That plant was supposed to be supported by a further factory in Portugal set up to supply the Grenadier's body and chassis, but those plans have now been ditched over what's claimed to be COVID-19 disruption.

Now INEOS has confirmed it will take over Smart's Hambach factory, a Daimler facility located close to the border with Germany.

"Hambach presented us with a unique opportunity that we simply could not ignore: to buy a modern automotive manufacturing facility with a world-class workforce," said Ratcliffe, who is INEOS chairman.

INEOS Grenadier production is scheduled to begin late in 2021.

As part of the deal, INEOS will continue to build the Smart EQ ForTwo and components for other Mercedes-Benz models that are said to guarantee the 1300 jobs at the French factory.

INEOS says the close proximity to Germany will also prove beneficial to both its supply chains and target markets.

The decision is bound to draw much criticism from the British press. Ratcliffe's announcement in 2019 that he would build a new factory in Wales was heralded as a major boost to the British car industry.

It's now thought the car-maker is set to leave the UK altogether – something the petrochemicals magnate already has a head-start on.

Ratcliffe reportedly left the UK in March this year to tax-haven Monaco shortly after he was knighted by the Queen for "services to business and investment".