Pro-Brexit billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s company Ineos Automotive said it will produce its 4x4 car in France from 2021, despite having previously pledged to build the “British spirit”-infused car in the UK.

Ineos announced the acquisition of a Mercedes-Benz factory from Daimler in the northeast of the country in an 8 December statement. It said the location — “only 200km from Stuttgart” — was a pull factor, explaining that the facility in Hambach gives it access to supply chains, talent and target markets.