Chemical giant Ineos introduced its first car at the beginning of the holidays. Off-road Grenadier, which does not deny considerable inspiration from the previous Land Rover Defender, was originally to be produced in Wales and Portugal. But during the performance, the British said that they were considering buying a Mercedes-Benz factory in Hambach, France. And this transaction did take place before the end of 2020.
Instead of new plants, Ineos will keep the existing factory on the French-German border, for which the German Daimler, which manufactures Mercedes-Benz cars, was still looking for a buyer. Reason? The overall transformation of Mercedes towards electrification and digitization. The carmaker needs to save money, also due to emission fines, and one of the cost-saving measures is the sale of the factory about 200 km from Stuttgart.
Nevertheless, the Smart mini-car, which has been in production in Hambach since 1997, does not immediately disappear from the factory. “When selling the plant, we had two goals – to maintain the production of the existing electric Smart and to secure the work of existing employees. We managed to achieve both,” said Mercedes member Jörg Burzer.
The existing Smart EQ fortwo will thus continue to be built in the French plant. Industry magazine Automotive News Europe writes that until 2024, neither Daimler nor Ineos press releases mention a specific timetable. In any case, the successor to the mini-car will already be produced in China by the carmaker Geely, the half owner of Smart. In addition to entire cars, components for other models with a three-pointed star will be created in France under the leadership of Ineos.
Roughly 1,300 employees will keep the job not only directly in the factory, but also in the supply chains. At the moment, 800 people work directly in the plant, another 800 are connected to the car company through suppliers and other support positions. The number of jobs will therefore fall by about five hundred. Neither party commented on the specific amount that Ineos will pay to Daimler.
The Grenadier off-road with a ladder frame and square body in the style of the original Land Rover Defender is scheduled to start production next to electric minicars at the end of next year. The annual capacity should be around 25 thousand cars. According to Ineos, the purchase of the existing factory will ensure that the original schedule, which included the first deliveries to customers in early 2022, will be adhered to. If new factories were built in Wales and Portugal, there would probably be a delay.
“With the Hambach plant, we had a unique opportunity that we couldn’t just overlook: the purchase of a modern car plant with top employees,” said Ineos owner James Ratcliffe. He is one of the richest people in Great Britain.
On Twitter then the carmaker stated that, although its original intention was to produce in the United Kingdom, from a business point of view, buying an existing plant was too advantageous for it. On the same social network, the brand also refuted that Brexit was behind the decision to produce Grenadier outside the islands.
In addition, Daimler does not leave a factory tailored only to Smarts. According to the aforementioned magazine Automotive News Europe, the Germans have recently invested up to 500 million euros in the reconstruction of the plant. They wanted to produce larger electric cars there, including the Mercedes-Benz EQB SUV. That is why not only the new body shop has been completed, but also the paint shop. According to earlier information, the Grenadier is similar in size to the upcoming Mercedes SUV, so the lines will not have to undergo major size adjustments.
Spicy is that Ineos Grenadier will be powered by petrol and diesel engines of one of Mercedes’ rivals, Munich’s BMW. After all, the transition from electric mini-cars to large off-roads with internal combustion engines was allegedly one of the concerns of the factory unions at a time of tightening emissions measures, although the factory eventually approved the sale.
However, in late November, Ineos announced a cooperation agreement with Hyundai in the development of its hydrogen drive. In addition to the actual production and supply of hydrogen, the two companies should also explore the use of hydrogen propulsion of the Korean carmaker, which is one of the world’s leaders in this segment, in the off-road Grenadier.
Recall that the basis of the Ineos Grenadier is a frame on which a square body is mounted. The offer will be a closed off-road or pick-up with a double cab. The exterior is noticeably inspired by the original Land Rover Defender, whose production ended in 2016. However, the cabin is supposed to be significantly more modern, although Ineos has not yet revealed it in the photos. The mentioned six-cylinder engines from the BMW workshop will send power to all wheels via an automatic transmission. During the performance, there was speculation about the basic price of 40 thousand pounds and also a rich list of additional equipment.
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