Ineos restarted production at a former Mercedes factory in France last week after it became clear that subcontractor Recaro had been saved.
The German part of Recaro, Recaro Automotive, was saved from bankruptcy last December, meaning Ineos was able to restart production.
The assembly lines started rolling again last week at the former Mercedes/Smart factory in Hambach, France.
Piston Heads writes.
The factory in France came to a standstill when Recaro announced in July last year that it was insolvent. That is, that there was no money to pay either bills or employees' wages.
The German company was ready to give up the fight for survival as late as October. But in December the entire business was taken over by the Italian Proma Group.
And that means Ineos can restart production. This applies to both the brand's models Grenadier and Quartermaster. Both models rolled out of the factory gates already on January 15th.
Ineos was also able to note that sales in 2024 were 44 percent better than in 2023. Even though the assembly lines had to be stopped unexpectedly.
Back in September, the brand's founder, billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, apologized to customers for the production problems. It is especially in the Chinese and Mexican markets that the small car brand has experienced greater growth.
"We are so proud that more than 20,000 Grenadier models are on the roads around the world," said director Lynn Calder immediately before production resumed.
The Ineos Grenadier is not a cheap pleasure. With five seats – the car is available with as few as two seats – the price starts at 68,000 euros.
That corresponds to 507,000 Danish kroner. And that's before any Danish taxes.
