Chery Auto plans to start making cars in Spain, marking the Chinese automaker’s first foray into Europe.
The move is part of Wuhu-based Chery’s plan to launch three brands in Europe, with three new models apiece within the next two years. It had previously aimed to join the European market in 2017 before postponing those plans.
Jochen Tueting, Chery Europe’s managing director, told Automotive News Europe in January that the company is “convinced we will become a relevant brand” and that its efforts will pay off. The automaker plans to launch both gas-powered, hybrid, and electric models in Europe due to varying adoption rates of cleaner vehicles.
Electric vehicles account for just 12% of Spain’s auto market, below the European average of 14%. In Germany, which has invested heavily in EVs, they make up 25% of new car sales.
Spain’s Industry Ministry told Reuters on Tuesday that it’s confident an agreement to start production in Barcelona — the capital of Catalonia — will be formalized in the next few days. Earlier this week, a Spanish delegation met with Chery in China to discuss the plans, which was followed by a meeting between Chery executives and a senior Catalonian business official.
The negotiations are centered around Nissan’s Barcelona plant, which it shut down in 2021 as part of cost-cutting measures. About 1,600 jobs were lost at that facility, some of which are expected to be brought back with Chery’s potential takeover. The plant — and two nearby affected facilities that were also closed — had employed 3,000 workers, and the shutdown was expected to affect as many as 25,000 other jobs in the local economy, union officials said in 2021.
The Barcelona plant was partially turned over to Silence, an electric motorcycle company, and Spanish engineer groups EV Motors and QEV. As of March, EV Motors has full control of the facility and plans to make EV trucks and vans under the Ebro brand alongside Chery, Reuters reports.
Spain is also opening two tenders this year for EV companies to request €1.7 billion ($1.82 billion) in loans and grants to produce electric models. The tenders are part of a economic recovery plan that relies on European pandemic relief funds.
Chery has also been in talks with Italy to set up auto manufacturing there; Italy’s EV sales account for just 4% of the market. The country has said it wants to raise its national car production to 1.3 million vehicles annually from less than 800,000 in 2023. Italy has also met with Tesla and several Chinese brands about making cars in the country.