London (CNN Business)Britain's richest man and Brexit supporter Jim Ratcliffe has abandoned plans to build a new SUV in the United Kingdom, dealing another blow to a car industry that has already been battered by the country's exit from the European Union and the pandemic.

Ratcliffe is the founder of Ineos, a chemicals company, and has a fortune worth nearly $28 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. Ineos said in a statement on Tuesday that its first vehicle, the Grenadier 4x4, will be manufactured at a plant in Hambach, France, that the company is buying from Daimler's (DMLRY) Mercedes-Benz.