Sir Jim, a joiner’s son who grew up in a council house but now leads INEOS ‐ Britain’s biggest private company ‐ is best known as a petrochemicals tycoon, but expressed a desire to get into the carmaking business after Jaguar Land Rover announced it would be ceasing production of its iconic Defender due to European Union emissions regulations.
Jaguar Land Rover opted to take advantage of the EU’s free movement regime to build its new version of the Defender in low-wage Slovakia, with the move out of Britain assisted by £110 million in state aid from the Slovakian government which the EU approved ‐ much to the chagrin of British taxpayers, who transfer significant sums of money to Slovakia through their loss-making contributions to the EU budget each year.
Sir Jim’s new Grenadier 4×4 was mooted as something of a tribute to the Defender, with his INEOS Automotive subsidiary now developing a new production site at Bridgend, Wales, for a planned launch in 2021.