MG considering opening its first European electric vehicle plant in Spain

car model MGowned by Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor, costbuild its first electric vehicle factory in Europe in Spainwhere it will produce cars that the company will sell in the various European markets in which it operates, as confirmed this Friday by sources of Europa Press. The decision will be taken before September 30, with the aim of producing its first car in the future European plant in three years, in the last quarter of 2027.

However, on the shortlist outside Spain The group is also exploring the possibility of locating the plant in another country, such as Hungary. –where BYD plans to build its European office– or Czech Republicand because of lower labor costs. However, according to Expansión, Spain has the advantage of being closer and better connected by water to the United Kingdom, a key market for MG due to its British origins. In fact, contacts are already being maintained with several autonomous communities, including Cantabria, Galicia and Aragon, which have already offered to facilitate the Chinese group’s investment.

TARIFF CRISIS

By making this decision to build a plant in Europe, MG’s main objective will be, among other things, to avoid tariffs applied to the import of electric vehicles from China entering the European Union market. SAIC has now requested a hearing at the European Commission to discuss application of tariffs, which in your particular case amount to almost 38% plus 10% This already applies to other hybrid and combustion engine vehicles imported from the Asian giant.

The manufacturer’s roadmap for 2024 is to register sales of around 250,000 units of its MG brand across Europe, figures that would allow it to place some production on the continent.

SPAIN, KEY MARKET

Only in Spainthe group reached the beginning of the week figure of 50,000 units sold since its return to the national market in March 2021, as noted in a corporate statement. Thus, MG points out that it has “established itself as one of the leading players” in the Spanish market and has positioned two of its models as the best-selling cars in Spain in certain months of the year (ZS, August, September and December 2023) and the electric MG4 (April 2023).

MG also noted creation of a service network comprising approximately 100 integrated points which cover the entire territory of Spain, as well as the logistics centre in Barcelona, ​​from where MG vehicles are managed throughout southern Europe. He also stressed that in less than 40 months he had created more than 500 direct jobs in Spain and more than 1,000 indirect jobs related to his activities.