Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Friday, Oct. 10.
Ineos Automotive has dreamed of producing luxury SUVs in the U.S.
So what's stopping it?
European regulations, according to CEO Lynn Calder. And the company's first and only plant, a repurposed Mercedes-Benz facility in Hambach, France, is primed to play a crucial role in the automaker's growth plans.
"I'm really excited about U.S. production, but it's not instead of our production in Europe," Calder told Automotive News Reporter Jack Walsworth. "It's as well as."
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Ineos acquired the French plant in 2020 and launched Grenadier output in 2022. Sales began in the U.S. in late 2023 and it quickly became the rugged SUV's No. 1 market, accounting for 60 percent of worldwide deliveries.
"The U.S. has sort of adopted it in a way that's probably slightly better than its adoption in Europe," Calder said of the Grenadier.
Indeed, U.S. customers like big trucks and the Grenadier is definitely that. But that's not the case in Europe, with its narrower roads and tighter garage spaces, Calder said.
So in 2024 Ineos revealed the noticeably smaller Fusilier SUV with full-electric and extended-range hybrid powertrains. Ineos planned to begin Fusilier output in 2027 but delayed the program.
Calder said Fusilier development remains frozen because of the European Union's planned 2035 ban on the sale of new light vehicles with internal combustion engines, aiming to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from all new models sold in Europe within 10 years.
She said the Fusilier with the extended-range powertrain would have lower emissions than the Grenadier, but would still not be emissions free.
"We're too small to bring a powertrain to market that's going to get banned five years after it's come to market," Calder said. "We want a runway."
With rules clarity, Ineos could give the Fusilier the green light to go into production at Hambach and it would then be easier to shift Grenadier output to the U.S.
"We would love to have both U.S. and European production because that gives us, not just driven by tariffs, some flexibility around where we produce things," Calder said. "But U.S. production only comes if we're producing the Fusilier."
Don't miss a few other great stories, including Ford joining GM in canceling $7,500 EV lease credit extensions, our dealership buy-sell database updates, GM canceling its next-gen hydrogen program, and Toyota and Lexus' three-row crossover fix.
That's it for today. Have a great rest of your day.
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— Wes Raynal, assistant web editor
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