The UK could soon be getting a new home-grown car.
Just over a year after Britain’s iconic Land Rover Defender went out of production, billionaire John Ratcliffe— the founder of chemicals giant Ineos—is drawing up plans to fill that 4x4-shaped gap in the UK’s car market.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ineos director Tom Cotty said that Mr Ratcliffe was planning on creating a vehicle that “shares the spirit of” the Defender but is not exactly the same as it.
"It is Jim's brainchild,” Mr Cotty told the programme. “He had a passion for this type of vehicle, he sees the opportunity."
Before it was discontinued, about 15,000-20,000 Defenders were being made annually, according to Mr Cotty. Ineos, a company with a turnover of around $40bn, would be looking at producing a similar number of cars, he said.
The last classic Land Rover Defender, known the world over and with fans including including the Queen, rolled off the production line in January last year after almost seven decades of being manufactured.
The rugged car was originally intended for agricultural use, and became particularly popular with the military and explorers. But in more recent decades it also became the car of choice for celebrities and anyone with a passion for sturdy, reliable automobiles.
More than two million Defenders have been sold since 1948 when, because of steel shortages after the war, aluminium was used for most of the body panels.
For Ineos, a move into car production would mark a major diversification from its current portfolio.
Among other things, the Switzerland-headquartered company makes solvents, used in the production of insulin and antibiotics, chlorine for purifying drinking water, plastics for packaging and materials to insulate houses and offices.
Mr Ratcliffe founded the company in 1998 and it now employs around 17,000 people across 67 countries.
