China’s Chery arrives in Europe: its cars will be manufactured as a joint venture in Barcelona

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The first match of the Chinese in Spain was blessed in Madrid directly by the prime minister Pedro Sánchez. There were talks of negotiations with Italy, but the car manufacturer Cherryunder government control, he has chosen Barcelona as the first to land in Europe. In fact, in mid-March, the Minister of Trade and Made in Italy, Adolfo Ursohad talked about conversations with three Dragon producers, BYD, Chery and Saicpushing the national production towards one million units per year, without a definite answer from Star.

Chery, which in Italy remains one of the main Chinese partners of the sprawling company DR Motorsannounced on Friday 19 April that the new hub of Iberia will be one of its main transport hubs worldwide: it will produce 150 thousand vehicles per year by 2029 in partnership with Ebro-EV Motors. “Once we reach a sufficient level of production, we will plan to export to Europe and other countries, turning this factory into one of the main export sites for Chery in the world,” he said. Zhang Guibingexecutive vice president of Chery International, during the presentation of the joint venture.

Ebrocontrolled by EV Motors, is a brand that produced trucks and buses and was closed in 1987. It is looking for a relaunch starting with electric pick-ups. Cherry is the third a car manufacturer in China, with 1.88 million vehicles produced last year and has historically been the best exporter. In 2023, Chery Group, headquarters there Wuhu (Anhui), exported 937,148 vehicles out of a total of 4.9 million exported from China to the world (including vehicles made by Western brands, such as Tesla, Mercedes or BMW), with an annual growth of 101.1%. Chery has been China’s top exporter for 21 consecutive years.

Prime Minister Sanchez participated in the official ceremony of the signing of an agreement between a Spanish electric pick-up manufacturer and a Chinese group. The agreement will also lead to jobs, up to 1,250 in the former Nissan plant, Sanchez recalled, stressing that this jv «is more than a big business project. It is a symbol of the country’s industrial regeneration, our ability to attract foreign investment, and also an example of public-private partnership.”

Sanchez highlighted that Spain is the second country in the production of cars in Europe after Germany (with 2.45 million cars in 2023, including commercial, light industry and cars; 880 thousand in Italy) and the eighth in export in the world. “We have 17 factories in 10 regions, and 15 technology centers”, and “in 2023 the automotive sector exported 87% of its production”, added the head of the Iberian government.