Chery will invest $400 million to produce up to 150,000 vehicles in the Nissan Zona Franca
This Friday, Chery and EV Motors (Ebro) organized an alliance concluded this week after months of negotiations for the reindustrialization of the old Nissan plant in the Barcelona free trade zone. After doubts about the viability of the project grew, both companies presented a proposal to bring activity back into the facility: they would start with production of 50,000 cars, with a goal of reaching 150,000 units in 2029.
The first model that the joint venture, in which EV Motors will have a majority stake, will produce in the Catalan capital will be the electric Omoda 5, which will start appearing on the streets after the summer. The ramp will employ 150 people currently on training contracts, but plans to create 1,250 jobs.
After the Omoda 5, the alliance also intends to assemble the Jaecoo 7 all-terrain vehicle, a Chery internal combustion model, in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Ebro’s own cars will ditch the originally planned electric technology, and the two SUVs that will be assembled, one mid-range and the other mid-range, will be combustion and plug-in hybrids, with production starting in late 2024. .
Chery and EV Motors have already announced that they will participate in future releases of Perte and other assistance. Thus, the Spanish company retains a controlling stake in the created joint venture. With these funds they will work to adapt the plant with “significant investment”. In his speech, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez: estimated the planned investments of companies in the project at 400 million euros. In the second phase, they also intend to build a new research and development center in Barcelona.
The company will not produce models from scratch. It will start with the Dkd model, units that are already supplied semi-assembled, and end with the Ckd model, where the cars arrive in parts and are assembled at the factory. Although Chinese suppliers will be involved initially, Chery intends to work with local partners in the coming years. “When we reach scale, the plant will become one of Chery’s main export points around the world. We will sell the products to the rest of Europe,” said Zhang Guibing, vice president of the Asian automaker.
Bye At the moment, EV Motors is thinking about relaunching Ebro cars in Spain and Andorra. As the organization explained, at the time of the launch of its models, it will have a dealer network of 30 sales points and several after-sales service points.
Neither of the two organizations explained the price at which the models will go to market, although they noted that it will be “in line with the market.”
The event was attended by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez; President of the Generalitat Pere Aragones; Minister of Industry Jordi Hereu; and the Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat, Roger Torrent.
News in expansion.