INEOS Automotive confirms acquisition of Hambach production site from Mercedes-Benz
- The former Mercedes-Benz site in Hambach will manufacture INEOS’s uncompromising 4x4, the Grenadier
- Hambach is a state-of-the-art facility with a highly skilled workforce and is well located for access to markets, suppliers, and automotive talent
- The site currently builds smart EQ fortwo electric vehicles, which INEOS will continue to produce alongside the Grenadier on a contract manufacturing basis
- INEOS Group Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe said: “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. INEOS Automotive set out a vision to build the world’s best utilitarian 4x4, and at our new home in Hambach, we will do just that.”
INEOS Automotive has acquired the manufacturing facility at Hambach from Mercedes-Benz and will start to build its Grenadier 4x4 there in late 2021. The acquisition secures the future of the site and safeguards many jobs that might otherwise have been lost.
Hambach is the ideal facility for production of the Grenadier. One of Europe’s most modern automotive manufacturing sites, it is home to a highly experienced and capable workforce, has an excellent track record amongst Mercedes plants for the quality of its output, and recently benefited from a major investment to enable the production of larger vehicles. Additionally the site’s location on the German-French border, only 200km from Stuttgart, gives excellent access to supply chains, automotive talent and target markets. Manufacturing at Hambach ensures that INEOS remains on track to meet its plans to deliver the Grenadier to customers in early 2022.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Mercedes-Benz will contract INEOS to continue to produce the smart EQ fortwo and some Mercedes-Benz components at Hambach. When combined with INEOS's plans for the Grenadier, this translates into some 1,300 jobs at Hambach, including commitments to onsite suppliers.
Dirk Heilmann, Chief Executive Officer of INEOS Automotive, commented: “This acquisition marks our biggest milestone yet in the development of the Grenadier. Alongside the exhaustive testing programme that our prototype vehicles are now undergoing, we can now begin preparations at Hambach to build our 4x4 from late next year for delivery to our customers around the globe.”
ENDS
Contact details:
Sarah Pelling - Head of PR, INEOS Automotive
+44 (0) 7887 451773 sarah.pelling@ineos.com
About INEOS Grenadier
In 2017, INEOS Chairman Jim Ratcliffe, a car enthusiast and experienced adventurer, identified a gap in the market for a stripped back, utilitarian, hard-working 4x4 engineered for modern day compliance and reliability. INEOS Automotive Limited was formed and a senior team of automotive professionals assembled to bring the vision to reality with a fresh perspective of 4x4 development and manufacturing.
Combining rugged British spirit and design with German engineering rigour, the Grenadier will be a truly uncompromising 4x4 built from the ground up. Engineered to overcome all conditions, it will provide best-in-class off-road capability, durability, and reliability to those who depend on a vehicle as a working tool, wherever they are in the world.
INEOS Automotive is a subsidiary of INEOS Group (www.ineos.com), a leading manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals and oil products. It employs 22,000 people across 34 businesses, with a production network spanning 183 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries. From paints to plastics, textiles to technology, medicines to mobile phones, materials manufactured by INEOS enhance almost every aspect of modern life. In 2019, INEOS had sales of circa $61bn and EBITDA of around $6bn.
To find out more about Grenadier, visit www.ineosgrenadier.com