Ebro, in alliance with the Chinese company Chery, launches production in Barcelona
Spanish brand Ebro This Saturday, the former Nissan plant in the Barcelona Free Trade Zone restarted production of its first car, the S700, in an event attended by the government, the Generalitat and the management of the Chinese multinational Chery, which ratified its industrial agreement. alliance with Ebro.
Nearly three years after the production of Nissan’s last vehicle, which was launched on December 16, 2021, Ebro, which announced its industrial alliance with Chery in April, has replaced the Japanese company and resumed vehicle production at Free Zone facilities.
The event took place at the plant, now called Ebro Factoryassembled the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa; Minister of Industry Jordi Hereu; Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Congress Zhao Leji; Chery Automobile President Tongyue Yin; President of Chery International Guibin Zhang; and Ebro’s chief directors, among other authorities.
Chery aims to ‘create thousands of jobs with Ebro’
During his speech, Yin was convinced that Chery will become the “driver” so that a “historic brand” such as Ebro “will again become a brand very well received in the Spanish market” and stressed that the industrial union with its partner has been ratified. that they intend to “create thousands of jobs with Ebro.”
The event was also attended by Chinese Ambassador to Spain Yao Jing; President of EV Motors, the parent company of Ebro, Rafael Ruiz; and Ebro CEO Pedro Calef; as well as the Ministers of the Presidency, Economy, Business and the European Union Generalitat.
Ruiz thanked Chery for the “fundamental support” it has given to Ebro and expressed confidence that the start of production is the “beginning of a great alliance” between both companies, stressing that today was a “historic day” because a new stage begins at the Zona Franca plant, which is “reborn”, and does this with the help of a brand, Ebro, which “beats again in the industrial heart of our country”“, he said.
The S700 will arrive semi-assembled from China
It is expected that the beginning Production of the first Ebro S700 will be completed before the end of the year with between 150 and 200 employees.according to union and company sources. To begin with, production will begin with about one and a half shifts, and each shift will produce about 44 cars, according to union sources. Likewise, Ebro plans to launch its second model, the S800, in the coming weeks.
S700 and S800 are two Mid-size SUV with PHEV (plug-in hybrid) and internal combustion engines.which are produced on the basis of a platform and technologies common to Chery.
The start of production of the S700 will be in DKD format (Direct knockdown), that is, the car will arrive from China in a semi-assembled form, although it is expected that starting from 2025 it will be produced at the CDC (Full knockdown), that is, the car will arrive disassembled and this will increase the workload at the Free Zone plant.
The idea is that Next year the plant will produce more than 20,000 carsAccording to company sources, by the end of 2024 the brand will already have 30 dealership centers operating.
On October 11, Ebro and Chery signed an agreement under which The Chinese company will control 40% of two EV Motors subsidiariesEbro SUV and Hub Tech plant.
At first Omoda 5 electric It was due to start production in the last quarter of this year and be the first car to be produced at the new stage of the Free Trade Zone plant, but in September Chery agreed to delay its production until 2025 and assemble it directly at CKD, meaning it will be produced in Barcelona already has a full welding and painting line.