Why a new 4x4 to take the place of famous Land Rover could be built on the East Coast

CHEMICALS GIANT Ineos has had a “significant” amount of interest from European countries outside the UK to build its new 4x4 vehicle, the company has revealed.

The firm plans to build 25,000 vehicles a year from 2020 along the lines of the Land Rover Defender which went out of production in 2016.

Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe, raised in Beverley near Hull, has revealed more details of the socalled Projekt Grenadier in a briefing at a pub in central London where he had the original idea of building a new version of the Defender.

“In an ideal world we would like to build it in the UK, which is where its heritage is based. But we have had a significant amount of interest from the Continent, where we could use existing facilities,” he said.

Ineos plans to spend up to £600m on the project, and will employ 1,000 workers, with up to 10,000 other jobs created indirectly.

Three versions will be built – petrol, diesel and hybrid – and there are no plans to build an electric version because of the weight of the battery needed to power it. Mr Ratcliffe said companies in a number of countries, including Germany, had the space and skilled workforce available to build the as-yet-unnamed 4x4, adding it would be a “challenge” to base production in the UK without a subsidy.

Talks have already been held with the Government about the project, and Ineos said its preferred location was likely to be along the UK’s east coast, between Scotland and Hull.

Around 200 engineers, including some from Germany, will be working on the project by the end of the year and Mr Ratcliffe said the aim was to make a worldclass 4x4, which was rugged, reliable and “cool.”

Speaking at the Grenadier pub in Belgravia, Mr Ratcliffe, who drives a Defender, said he wanted to build a new version which was unbreakable, adding: “The Land Rover was a great vehicle, but it was not unbreakable.”

Around 15,000 Defenders were built a year until Jaguar Land Rover ended production last year. JLR will build a new Defender.