Ineos Automotive has confirmed its interest in Daimler’s Hambach factory in France, where Smart models are currently produced.
Ineos wants to use the factory as their manufacturing base for the upcoming Grenadier off-roader, replacing both its proposed chassis-building plant in Portugal and the final assembly facility in Wales, UK.
Daimler has announced its plan to sell the Smart factory last week as part of “optimizing” its global production network and dealing with the financial blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
Read More: Daimler Is Looking To Sell Its Smart Factory In France
“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic some new options such as this one with the plant in Hambach have opened up that were simply not available to us previously,” Ineos Automotive CEO Dirk Heilmann said. “We are therefore having another look – and reviewing whether the addition of two new manufacturing facilities is the right thing to do in the current environment.”
“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,” the company said in a statement.
Ineos Automotive, which is run by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, said previously that they would assemble the Grenadier in Bridgend, Wales, creating up to 500 jobs, as well as establishing a new factory in Portugal to produce the chassis and the body of the brand’s first model.
Picking France instead of the UK as their manufacturing base could help Ineos avoid any potential Brexit-related tariffs. The Ineos Grenadier is going to use a BMW-sourced 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six engine paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
