UK manufacturing firm Ineos confirmed on the Today Programme that it's looking to fill the gap left by legendary British off-roader, the Land Rover Defender. 

Jaguar Land Rover stopped production last year, ending 67 years of the 4x4 being made. It blamed stricter EU measures for new car emissions. 

At the end of the car's life, there were about 15,000-20,000 Defenders being made, Ineos director Tom Cotty told Today. 

Ineos, a $40bn company which specialises in chemical production, would be looking at producing a similar amount of cars. It wants to create a 4x4 that "shares the spirit of that vehicle, but not be that vehicle", Mr Cotty said.

Image source, Jaguar Land Rover

Image source, PA

Image source, Jaguar Land Rover

Image source, Jaguar Land Rover

Image source, Getty Images

Marine Le Pen’s plans to take France out of the eurozone would raise the country’s debt costs by €30bn a year, according to the country’s central bank chief, external.

Ms Le Pen's far-right Front National party has called for France to drop the euro following a referendum, then get the central bank to fund a state spending blitz. 

But head of the bank François Villeroy de Galhau said this would lead to France defaulting on its debts and threatened the independence of the central bank.

Investors have been selling off French government bonds in recent weeks over fears Ms Le Pen could win the presidential election in early May.

Image source, Getty Images

We've already seen the makers of Marmite, external, model railways, external and Macbooks, external raise prices in Britain following the fall in the value of sterling after the Brexit vote.  

Now it's the turn of Sonos - the wireless speaker maker. BBC technology of business editor Matthew Wall tweets:

Image source, Getty Images

German stocks are climbing this morning, buoyed by drug-maker Stada which has surged following a takeover bid. 

The firm - which makes generic copies of drugs such as Viagra - confirmed yesterday it had received two offers, external, one for 3.5bn euros (£3bn) from private equity group Cinven. It didn't name the other bidder. 

Shares in the firm are up 13.4% on Monday at 56.3 euros - slightly less than the 58 euros per share offered by Cinven.

Despite its slightly more positive outlook on the eurozone's economy, the European Commission says the bloc faces "higher-than-usual uncertainty".

Potential stumbling blocks include the "still-to-be-clarified" intentions of US President Donald Trump, as well as political risks as Brexit negotiations begin and elections are held in several EU countries. 

Explaining its outlook on UK growth, the Commission said: "Business investment is likely to be adversely affected by persisting uncertainty while private consumption growth is projected to weaken as growth in real disposable income declines." 

Image source, Getty Images

The European Commission has confirmed it expects the British economy to slow in the wake of the Brexit vote - although not as severely as previously forecast. 

In its Winter Economic Forecast, it said UK growth was "projected to moderate in 2017 and weaken further in 2018" - the period in which Britain will be negotiating its departure from the bloc. 

UK growth is forecast to fall from 2% in 2016 to 1.5% this year, and to further slow down to 1.2% next year. 

However, that beats a previous estimate of 1% for 2017 while remaining unchanged for 2018.

By contrast, the Commission expects growth in the eurozone of 1.6% this year and 1.8% in 2018 - an upward revision of a previous forecast.

Image source, Co-Op Group

The Co-operative Group, which still owns 20% of the Co-op Bank, says it supports "the plan to find the bank a new home". 

It says it's working to help the two million Co-op members who are customers of the bank, as well as the members of its shared pension scheme. 

"Our goal is to ensure the continued provision of the type of co-operative banking products our members want," it adds.  

Image source, Getty Images

UK banks are having to navigate choppy waters at the moment, as very low interest rates make it harder to increase profits. The Sunday Times reported, external yesterday that the tough conditions could see Royal Bank of Scotland announce a further 15,000 job cuts. 

It'd be bad news for the state-owned bank's staff, but is being seen as good news for investors. Shares in RBS are up 1.4% this morning - making it one of the FTSE 100's biggest winners.

The bank has told the BBC it "does not recognise" the Sunday Times report. 

However, it's expected to report a ninth year of annual losses next week, in part because of the Bank of England's decision to cut interest rates to a new record low last year. As part of chief executive Ross McEwan's existing cost-cutting plans, RBS made cuts of £1bn in 2014, £1bn in 2015 and £800m last year.

Image source, Getty Images

What does the news that the Co-operative Bank is putting itself up for sale mean for its 4 million customers?

Hannah Maundrell, editor of comparison site money.co.uk, says: “Co-op Bank customers shouldn’t be overly concerned; this isn’t necessarily bad news rather a step to shore up the bank’s finances for the foreseeable future.

“If anything the fact they’re addressing their gap in funding is a positive thing. Plus, they’re protected by the FSCS should anything go wrong down the line.”

All UK bank customers' savings are protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, external in case a bank goes out of business.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA

Plans for a new off-road 4x4 in the spirit of Land Rover's discontinued Defender are being drawn up by Jim Ratcliffe, founder of manufacturing firm Ineos and one of the UK's richest men.

"It is Jim's brainchild. He had a passion for this type of vehicle, he sees the opportunity," says Ineos director Tom Crotty. "You know his commitment to manufacturing, and this is a way of demonstrating that." 

But it's "not a vanity project - this is very much a business project," Mr Crotty tells the Today Programme.  

Ineos didn't try to buy the rights to the Defender and it isn't planning to partner with a carmaker to ease the costs, he says. "We know what we're in for. We're not naive here ... We're talking several hundreds millions here to get this off the ground."

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

Image source, Getty Images

After a near death experience in 2013 when Co-op Bank nearly went bust, it has been limping along ever since. It was kept alive back then when lenders wrote off their debts in return for a stake in the bank, in a so-called debt for equity swap, but it has been unable to earn itself back to health. 

The Bank of England told the BBC last week that it had been operating without the recommended shock absorbing capital for some time, and this morning it welcomed Co-op bank's announcement. 

When a bank has too little capital it only has three realistic options.

The first is to earn your way out of trouble. The second is to get your owners to put in extra money. The third is to find someone else well placed to add four million customers to an existing business. 

Read more of who's well-placed to buy the Co-op Bank in Simon's blog here.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

One in 10 of the UK's top 100 companies are considering scrapping “long-term incentive plans” (LTIPS) as shareholders push back against excessive executive pay, the FT reports this morning, external. 

LTIPs combine a salary, bonus and additional shares and, says the report, account for the largest chunk of remuneration at Britain’s biggest firms.

It comes after Barclays yesterday said it would freeze the pay of its chief executive, Jes Staley (pictured), for the next two years.

David Buik of Panmure Gordon told Today: "Shareholder incentive schemes have clearly got out of hand... Because international competition is such chief executives and other executives get very good contracts without actually necessarily delivering."

Image source, AFP

The FTSE 100 opened higher on Monday with mining stocks climbing on stronger copper prices.

The index gained 0.1%, or 7.42 points, to 7,266.32 in the opening minutes of trade.   

Four of this morning's best performers are miners, including Glencore (up 1.8%), Antofagasta (1.8%), BHP Billiton (1.6%) and Anglo American (1.5%).

It follows strong starts for other European markets, with Frankfurt's Dax index up 0.3% and the Paris Cac up by almost 0.5%.

Image source, Getty Images

Consumer spending is the big driver of the UK economy, but there are signs it is slowing down, says credit card firm Visa.

Kevin Jenkins, director of UK and Ireland, tells the BBC that spending in January slowed to its lowest rate in five months. 

"It's too early to predict what this might mean going forward," he says, but there is other evidence to suggest a trend is emerging. 

"Overall growth on the High Street has been disappointing for some time," he adds. And this year we can also expect "a pick-up in terms of inflation and a down-tick in terms of wage growth", which could squeeze household spending.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

So will this new car company be based in the UK?

Tom Crotty is a director at UK chemical firm Ineos and says it hopes to create the jobs in the north as they are "committed to the UK manufacturing economy".  

Many carmakers base new plants in eastern Europe and other low-cost economies.

But Ineos' plan is to build a new off-road 4x4 in the UK, Mr Crotty says.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Land Rover

A UK manufacturing company is looking to fill the gap left by the end of manufacturing of Land Rover's famous off-road car, the Defender.

Ineos, the chemicals company founded by pro-Brexit billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, conducted a six-month study into the car market.

It's spotted an opportunity for "a traditional off-roader ... that can be adapted for a whole range of uses," Tom Crotty, a director at Ineos, tells Today.

"That's where the real gap in the market is - for a real, tough, uncompromising 4x4 machine."

Wake up to Money presenter Louise Cooper writes:

Image source, PA

The Bank of England has issued a statement on the Co-operative bank putting itself up for sale. The central bank's Prudential Regulation Authority says:

"The PRA welcomes the actions announced today by the Co-operative bank. We will continue to assess the bank’s progress in building greater financial resilience over the coming months."

Dominic O'Connell
Business Presenter, BBC Radio 4 Today programme

Britain is about to get a new, home-grown car company.

It's the brainchild of one of Britain's richest individuals, Jim Ratcliffe, who made his money with the chemicals company Ineos. 

He thinks there is a gap in the market now that Land Rover has stopped making the Defender, a rugged, no-nonsense four-wheel drive - he is going to make one of his own.