British off-road vehicle manufacturer, Ineos Automotive Ltd, is planning to axe hundreds of jobs soon, say reports citing the firm is grappling with debts and tariffs on imports into the US. Though, the exact numbers have not been revealed.
The firm, which employs 1,700 people worldwide, said on Thursday that it will axe ‘several hundreds’ of office roles, which include staff from London. In 2024, billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s car-making business employed 230 people in the UK.
Releasing a statement, the off-road vehicles manufacturer said that the decision has been made to focus on its core manufacturing and commercial activities, to grow sales and deliver exceptional products, service and support to customers.
Looking at the details, Ineos cars’ sales plunged 23 per cent in the UK this year. The is known to manufacture off-road vehicles the Grenadier 4×4 and the Quartermaster.
The cuts are most likely to affect the firm’s automotive plant in France’s Hambach, which builds the Ineos Grenadier.
Earlier, Ratcliffe, who also co-owns Manchester United, had struggled to keep its business profitable after issues arose at his French factory. The firm had to reacll over 7,000 of its Grenadier vehicles in the US over faulty doors.
Trump Tariffs:
Among the other reason for layoffs in the firm could be pressure on the business following United States President Donald Trump’s announcement to impose higher tariffs on imports of cars into the US, which is considered to be Grenadier’s biggest market.
Not only the automotive sector, Ineos also announced to make cuts in its workforce for its chemicals manufacturing factories in Germany. In October, Ineos said it would cut a fifth of jobs at its East Yorkshire plant. The firm cited sky-high energy costs and dirt-cheap imports from China as primary reasons for job cuts.
Accusing Europe of carrying out industrial suicide by imposing green policies, Ineos claimed that it has raised the cost of business.
Financial Strain:
Aiming to protect its core petrochemicals business from further financial strain, Ineos has been trying to file anti-dumping cases so that it can block the import of cheap chemicals products into the EU.
However, the firm has lost the conidence of debt investors and credit rating agencies. Earlier in 2025, two credit ratings agencies had raised red flags over the Ineos Group. This may result in debt pile climbing to almost €12bn (£10bn) in 2025.
According to Fitch Ratings and Moody’s, the debts on Ratcliffe’s chemicals business has climbed to eight times their annual earnings.
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