The Grenadier will be aimed at Land Rover Defender enthusiasts.
STUTTGART – Petrochemical Ineos has submitted a company offer for Daimler’s Smart plant in France to build the SUV Grenadier, its Land Rover Defender rival.
Negotiations for the sale were “positive and advanced,” Daimler’s spokesman told Automobilwoche, a sister publication of Automotive News Europe.
Ineos plans to manufacture 25,000 grenadiers at the Hambach plant in northern France.
Ineos sees herself in the final leg of the purchase process.
“Although the contract has yet been concluded, we are confident that agreement will be reached on the terms and situations and that the new grenadier house will be France,” a spokesman from Ineos told Automobilwoche.
Ineos commented on the amount of the purchase offer.
Ineos had originally planned to build the Grenadier in a new factory in Bridgend, Wales, with the car chassis and scale chassis built in a separate factory in Portugal. The company abandoned those plans after Daimler said it was looking for a customer for the Smart plant because it was cutting production capacity as a result of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Hambach is a perfect solution for Ineos, with great experience and a fair track record among Mercedes factories in terms of product production quality,” said ineos spokesman.
Model production will be transferred to China from France after Daimler announced last year that it would manufacture next-generation cars as a component of a joint venture with Geely.
A Daimler spokesman said a resolution on the sale of the Hambach plant would be made once talks with workers’ representatives were concluded.
“One goal is to ensure the long duration of the site,” the spokesman told Automobilwoche.
Daimler has a direct duty for some 1,000 workers in Hambach and an indirect duty to some six hundred suppliers, according to Michael Brecht, director of Daimler’s corporate committee. “The goal, of course, is to locate a long-term for the 1,600 people,” he said.
The Smart plant opened in 1997 to build the two-seat Smart ForTwo, but Daimler recently invested in the facility to build the EQB electric crossover for Mercedes-Benz, which can accommodate larger vehicles.
According to Automobilwoche sources, the JCA will now be built in Rastatt, Germany, or Kecskemet, Hungary. The JCA is expected to make its debut this year.
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