Cars: China’s Chery to open first European factory in Spain

Chinese carmaker Chery will open its first European plant in Spain, at the former Nissan site in Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​as part of a joint venture with Spanish group Ebro-EV Motors. The Spanish government announced. An agreement “has been concluded between the two companies for the production of vehicles in the former Nissan factory, located in the autonomous region of Barcelona,” the Spanish Ministry of Industry said in a press release. At the moment, no details have been presented on the agreement, which will be signed tomorrow during a meeting in Madrid between the Minister of Industry Jordi Hereu and a delegation from Chery, in front of members of the Catalan regional government. The Spanish authorities had reported in recent days that an agreement was close after increasing contact with Chery. But doubts remained about the decision of the Chinese group, so much so that the special media talked about the possibility of a solution in Italy. Instead, according to rumors reported by Bloomberg, Dongfeng Motor Group is in talks with the Italian government to produce 100,000 cars in Italy.
“After several months of negotiations, we are reaching the culmination of the reconstruction” of the old site of Nissan “and the agreement between Ebro and Chery for the production of thousands of cars”, rejoiced X Roger Torrent, head of business in the state area of Catalan.
The former Nissan site, where 3,000 people worked, closed its doors in December 2021. Part of this large industrial area was sold to the motorcycle manufacturer Silence and EV Motors, but the local authorities, together with EV Motors, were looking for another investor absolutely. Relaunch the website.
Chery is the second Chinese manufacturer to announce a plant in Europe, after electric vehicle champion BYD, which formalized the construction of its first European plant in Hungary in February. The latter will be operational within three years.
Founded in 1997, Chery is a state-owned company. The brand, which expects to sell 1.88 million vehicles in 2023, was very popular about fifteen years ago in China, especially for a small gasoline city car aimed at the domestic market. Chery’s decision comes amid tensions between Beijing and Brussels, which at the beginning of April opened an investigation into public subsidies given by Chinese authorities to electric cars, which are accused of harming competition. (AGI)