Chery will become the first Chinese carmaker to manufacture cars in Spain. It plans to manufacture both combustion and electric vehicles in Spain, as well as those with some form of hybridisation.
The Asian carmaker has just signed an agreement with EV Motors, which is seeking to reindustrialise the former Nissan Barcelona, for Chery to manufacture vehicles entirely in the Zona Franca of Barcelona and thus occupy the site left by Nissan in 2021.
The Chinese group Chery, which includes brands such as Chery itself, Exeed, Omoda and Jaecoo has also reached an agreement with the Generalitat de Catalunya to manufacture cars at the former Nissan plant. The agreement will be announced by the Government of Catalonia on Friday 19 April.
The agreement with the Chinese group will guarantee sufficient workload to absorb the 600 or so former Nissan workers pending relocation, who until October are on training contracts. Chery Group executive vice-president Charlie Zhang announced in February that the Chinese consortium’s investment in Barcelona will generate “at least 1,000 direct jobs”.
Chery Group, parent company of Omoda and Jaecoo, is one of the largest car manufacturers in the Asian country and is present in 30 markets around the world. After its full implementation in Spain, with the opening of 80 dealerships in the first phase, Chery will continue to expand in other European countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, according to the company.
