METZ – Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler has sold its Smart car plant in northeastern France to Britain’s Ineos, which will use it to build a 4x4, a source close to factory management told AFP today.
“The sale was signed on Monday evening,” the source said, adding that the deal will preserve 1,300 of the 1,500 jobs at the site in Hambach.
Petrochemicals firm Ineos initially said it planned to build the Grenadier off-roader, its first foray into the automotive industry, in Wales.
But this summer, it said it was considering buying Daimler’s Hambach plant instead.
German auto giant Daimler caused surprise when it announced it was putting the factory up for sale to try and cut costs in the face of losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It will continue production of an electric-drive Smart and part of a new electric Mercedes SUV at the site until 2024, said the source.
The carmaker’s departure from Hambach marks the end of an era that began with great fanfare in 1997, when then German chancellor Helmut Kohl and former French president Jacques Chirac inaugurated the plant to produce a mini two-seater city car.
The factory’s communications director, Jean-Yves Schmitt, told AFP that both Daimler and Ineos will issue statements on the sale later today. – AFP, December 8, 2020
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