INEOS Automotive’s Grenadier 4x4 to be built in Wales

INEOS Automotive has announced its utilitarian Grenadier 4x4 will be built in a bespoke new manufacturing facility on a greenfield site in Bridgend, South Wales.

The move will initially create 200 jobs, and up to 500 in the long term as part of INEOS’s £600mn investment to bring the Grenadier to market in 2021.The 4x4 vehicle will be named ‘Grenadier’ after the pub in which it was conceived, with over 6,000 international fans and followers responding to an online poll to choose the it’s name.

INEOS Group Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe commented: “We have looked long and hard at possible manufacturing locations for Grenadier across the world with lots of good options to choose from.  The decision to build in the UK is a significant expression of confidence in British manufacturing, which has always been at the heart of what INEOS stands for.”

INEOS Automotive has confirmed that in parallel, it will be investing in a sub-assembly plant in Estarreja, Portugal. The facility will produce the Grenadier’s body and chassis, working in conjunction with INEOS’s European supply chain partners.

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Dirk Heilmann, Chief Executive Officer of INEOS Automotive, explained: “Confirming production in the UK, as well as our investment in Portugal, is a major milestone for the project. We are progressing well with the design and engineering work, as well as our marketing and distribution plans.  

“In the months ahead, we look forward to sharing more information about the Grenadier, and engaging with local suppliers, the community and region, in advance of the start of production in 2021.”

Commercial director Mark Tennant added: ‘We'll be building the Grenadier in Britain. We're delighted to come to that conclusion after a very extensive process of evaluation, in Europe and beyond. The desire was always to build in the UK; the commercials had to make sense.”

INEOS Automotive is a subsidiary of INEOS Group, 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 2018, INEOS had sales of circa $60bn and EBITDA of around $6bn.