Billionaire tycoon Jim Ratcliffe to build Land Rover Defender successor in Britain in Brexit boost
The Ineos chairman is seeking to become the UK's largest independent car maker by investing £650m into the British manufacturing industry and creating up to 10,000 jobs
BILLIONAIRE Brit businessman Jim Ratcliffe is on the road to creating what could be the UK’s largest independent car maker — with plans to produce up to 25,000 a year.
The chairman of chemicals giant INEOS is moving into the motoring market — and told The Sun how he wants to build a successor to the discontinued Land Rover Defender on the East Coast.
The 64-year-old tycoon, who owns an original Defender, said in an exclusive interview: “Our preference is to build it in the UK, on the Eastern seaboard.
“We’d like to retain the Britishness and have a bit of passion about UK manufacturing.
“We believe that Britain can produce something as reliable as Germany or Japan if we do it well.”
The project would generate up to 10,000 jobs, he said, including 1,000 in the facility itself, and the rest in the supply chain.
He vowed to pour in £650million to create a new “reliable” Defender, provisionally dubbed Projekt Grenadier after the pub in London’s Belgravia where the idea was conceived.
The Ineos plant at Grangemouth in Scotland is believed to be among the contenders for the work, along with some sites in England, including another of its facilities in Hull.
Iconic off-roader
THE iconic Land Rover Defender is a Brit four-wheel drive off-road vehicle.
Developed from the original Land Rover launched in 1948, famous drivers include the Queen. Originally called the Land Rover 90 or 110, the car became the Defender in 1990 to distinguish it from the Discovery.
After a run of 67 years, the last Defender rolled off the production line in Solihull in January last year.
Jaguar Land Rover has signalled its intention to launch a replacement in a couple of years.
However, Ratcliffe revealed he has been inundated with cheaper propositions from car makers in northern and southern Europe which have spare capacity or mothballed plants.
But he wants to secure the work here and said talks have just started with the Government to get grant support and “even up the score”.
The Mancunian is driven by a concern that British manufacturing has “collapsed”, with dire consequences for the North of England.
He explained: “It is where the industrial revolution happened. I have always had an issue with the UK having become so reliant on the services sector.
“It is not great news at all to have no manufacturing in the North.”
But the final decision on where to base the plant will be determined by economics as the vehicle has to be affordable, he added.
Tycoon's dream
OUTLINING his vision for the new vehicle, Ratcliffe said: “It will be like the Defender in terms of what it looks like — unquestionably cool — but with better reliability and durability. It’s got to work.
“It is a farmer’s car — honest vehicle for an honest job — and I don’t want to change that basic essence. It is fantastic off road; comfortable, agile and lightweight due to its aluminium body.
“Secondly, it looks unquestionably cool and stands out. It transcends fashion but epitomises it.
“The third point in my mind is reliability. In the past that has been awful.”
Sun City readers are able to make suggestions for its name and design on a new website, , launched today.
